Furious Farmers Set Paris Tire Fire

I wrote recently about how high food prices cause people around the globe to go fairly berserk. Exhibit A for today (incidentally, World Food Day): French farmers burning tires and hay on the Champs Elysees in response to a surge in grain prices, as reported by the Associated Press (check out the excellent set of photos accompanying the article).

Around 150 farmers blockaded traffic and littered the famous shopping street in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe with flaming detritus. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, but not before the protesters got their message across: please help!

They want the French government to assist them in managing the increasing instability and debt they have been facing as food prices have slid from record highs in 2007.

Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire said he would request that President Nicolas Sarkozy relieve the rabblerousers by reducing their taxes this year. But even so, he said that the difficulties would be far from over; agricultural revenue is slated to drop up to 20 percent this year, the same as last year.

The farmers say things are even worse than that, though, a point they made with signs showing a drowning person above the caption: "Sarkozy: Agriculture, should it pay such a price?"

In the U.S., where government bailouts seem to be more the province of closed-door deals than tire-burning street shenanigans, we might well ask why these farmers think they should get a handout. They’re not “too big to fail” are they? But in this era when fewer of the people grow more of the food, are they just too important to be ignored? U.S. farmers get handouts, after all, though unfortunately only the big ones.

What do you think — should French farmers get a helping hand? It is time that American small farmers start burning hay bales and Goodyears on the National Mall?

Photo courtesy of Dominic's pics on flickr