The tragedy of the milk farmer protests

In the left-liberal daily La Repubblica Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, comments on the tragedy of the dairy farmers' protests in Brussels last Monday: "One may … find the photos of a dairy farmer spraying milk from the provocative udder of a peaceful but somewhat confused looking cow directly into the faces of custodians of the law very charming, but it is all very dreadful. The milk that was spilled in protest at the European agricultural ministers in recent days on fields and on Monday by 7,000 cattle breeders on the street goes straight to the heart. Put yourself in the position of people who have sunk to such depths that they pour away the fruits of their own labour: there is something tragic about this. They resorted to this desperate gesture because milk is worth hardly anything nowadays. … The first blow [for the farmers] was the European subsidies, which mainly went to the large farms. … Without doubt the market is in the hands of the big chains who buy the milk and meat from the breeders - or rather, buy it from them after having set the price. … The breeders have … next to no bargaining power on this market."

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