At the start of January 2024, many farmers throughout European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, India, Italy, and Greece, started a series of protests that would help spread the gravity of the problems in revenue, which tens of thousands of farmers are experiencing all across Europe.

Farmers have been expressing the same common concern, a toughening agricultural industry. Many of these complaints have resulted in farmers being unable to produce any real profit. 61-year-old farmer Jean-Jacques Pesquerel stated his frustration, "We are always asked for more and we earn less and less. We cannot live from our work anymore” Reuters. To combat these growing demands and even lower incomes, farmers are being forced to invest more in their farms, resulting in the purchase of newer and more efficient machinery and land to boost production. Despite it sounding like a straightforward solution, many of these farmers don’t have the assets to make this upgrade quickly or at all. As a result, these farmers rely on loans which then lead to a snowballing of debt, accumulating rapidly and providing no real solution but instead creating a never-ending cycle of loans and debt, thus resulting in frustrations about the instability and inability to earn a living.

Another main issue that small-scale farmers face is the immense competition that big agriculture businesses create in the industry. With more resources and money to spend, the higher-grade machinery used by big agriculture leaps them ahead of these small farmers. These better machines help increase production while also speeding up harvesting, creating more revenue which circles its way into improving production. This forces small farmers to over-exert themselves, often resulting in injuries, which means that the farmers, when not able to work to full capacity, cannot keep up production.   

How are small farms supposed to compete with the efficiency and high-graded machinery? Farmers have no choice but to bring attention to themselves and their mission. On January 25th, farmers blocked borders, dropping large pieces of debris like tires and hay bales, setting them ablaze to create large and frightening displays. A bold action they took was spraying manure onto government and market buildings (Reuters). These methods have grabbed nationwide attention, but despite these desperate actions, small-scale farmers are still unable to reach their intended audience, government officials, who could provide some relief if they respond with new regulations on big agriculture and more support for the working farmers who have been providing for the population for years. 

Even here in the US, we could still feel the impacts of these protests. The US receives a large portion of its exports from European countries such as oils, vinegar, and cheese. With the ongoing tension and disruption of food production overseas, there is less product to be exported, which we have come to rely upon. But if a resolution is not reached, we are most likely going to see prices skyrocket.

Government officials are claiming they will not be pressured and will continue to ignore these attempts. Rather, the government has been viewing those protesting as nothing more than lawbreakers, resulting in many small farmers being jailed as well as others being charged with multiple offenses. If this continues with no real change, we will most likely witness more aggressive methods in the coming months.

While it may seem that small farmers protesting in some random country like Poland doesn’t affect our daily living, we would be wise to remember our own history here in California with the Workers United: The Delano Grape Strike and Boycott. We might not be able to change European agriculture laws and rules, but we can remember to support local and small businesses whenever possible, as it is necessary to help the “little guy” stand up to the big corporations that are not from our communities and do not benefit the people who live here.