THE ECOLOGIZATION OF FRENCH AGRICULTURE

In the past the environment did not figure among agricultural problems in France. Now the uncovering of negligent farming methods is set to bring out a relationship between the two where until now, there has been a gulf between not only the representations of agriculture and environment but also institutional practices. Indeed, for the farmer to acquire an image of polluter, a shock was needed to change the popular image of the rural world. The article sets out the role played by public condemnation of affairs such as the spread of genetically modified organisms (1987) - one of the first serious cracks in the image of agronomic research - and the water crisis (1990) which enabled the Minister for the Environment to break the taboo and publicly and specifically accuse farmers of being responsible for water pollution. By his iconoclastic outburst, he forced political decision-makers to recognize for the first time the necessity of taking account of the environment in agricultural policy and made it possible to begin discussion of a possible contribution by farmers along polluter-payer lines. Will this new environmental factor help to create a widening social and spatial gap between farmers or be the spearhead of a more equitable agricultural policy founded on solidarity?