Farm Show In Paris 2018

 

I always look forward to the biggest farm show in Paris, the Salon de L’Agriculture. I know is will be crowded, and I know I will come back exhausted with some sad feelings about the animals seen and adored.

It is a once a year humongous farm extravaganza and immersion into all aspects of French agriculture.

Aisle after aisle  showcase all the glories of French foods from land to sea, that makes France the gastronomic capital of the world!

Can you imagine a farm with over 4,000 farm animals of all sorts, over 1000 square meters of greenhouse grown vegetables and crops, and over a thousand booths offering every food imaginable within Paris?.

This year I went on the first day, but did not see President Macron who reportedly spent 12 hours visiting with farmers, some of whom vented their anger and frustrations with verbal barbs.

He was offered two laying hens, Agathe and Marianne, who have just taken up residence in the Elysée Palace gardens living in their own coop, officially welcomed by President Macron himself!

Because an extra ticket fell my way, I ended up returning on the last day of the show too, which I don’t recommend..

Hard to imagine how in the world they put the whole thing together with so many live animals to keep happy in their hay lined  berths.

The two things that draw me in are the animals and the mind blowing array of regional foods that give glory and pride to French agriculture and gastronomy.

I didn’t grow up in a large urban area, but in a small city in a rural corner of northeast Louisiana Mississippi delta flatlands.

Certainly farm animals were out there, but I rarely saw any, just fields and fields of cotton.

Seeing cows off in the distance and seeing them within touch gives you a totally other dimension.

My first impression is how beautiful they are and I am always surprised by their gargantuan size.

You certainly wouldn’t want to be chased by any.  When I did my brief rural living experiment in a small French village near the Swiss border, I saw lots of them on my daily walks in the summer but I kept my distance.

In addition to celebrating the immense treasures of French agriculture from every region of the country, there are booths of  French territories from the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian oceans to flaunt their tropical and exotic foods too.

If that wasn’t enough, they also invite countries all over the world to offer their own unique culinary and cultural masterpieces for sell.  Without a doubt, it is truly a global marketplace for Parisians to enjoy and take advantage of goodies not otherwise easily found. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It always takes place at the  multiple  huge exhibition halls at Porte de Versailles.

There has been public agriculture fairs in Paris since 1855, that was initially located on the Champs Élysée until it moved to Porte de Versailles in 1925.  The sought after prizes of being the best of the salon are  awarded yearly in multiple competitions  that has been going on since 1870.

These best of the show have the right to  display the white and gold Concours Générale Agricole label on their products, to distinguish the excellency that this honour bestows.

You will find this label of top quality on multiple foods, from butters, charcuterie, diverse dairy products, olive oils, foie gras, meats , ect, and to wines.

I usually start my visit with the cows, and each year they choose a special cow to be the star of the show, a Miss Bovine if you wish!

This year it is Haute, a  pretty reddish Aubrac lady, from Aveyron, a region in the southwestern part of France.

Her little one Olympe, was content lying by her side, while Haute looked unfazed by all of her admirers, happily chewing her cud.

Her owner described her as being a proud dame, who knows she is the princess of the whole troop.

There are 46 races of French bovines, some dairy, some mixed, and some raised primarily for meat.  Since France is renowned for having about 1200 different cheeses, every race of milk cows serves to give certain cheese its particular taste.

For beef, the Charolais is probably the most famous amongst the others and they are a very pretty cow with  white fur that are raised primarily in the  Burgundy region.  You will often see them   dotting the lovely green rolling hills there.

Beef cattle in France are all grass-fed and generally spend at least 3 years grazing in the pastures, in contrast to American beef cows who go to the corn lots before one year of age.  Additionally, growth hormones are forbidden, as well as milk producing hormones often used to increase production in American dairy cows.

While at the 2015 salon, I sat down in the judging arena when they were presenting the Montbéliarde dairy cows that come from the Jura . This is the rugged  mountainous area of France north of Lac Leman, that borders Switzerland.

I witnessed two things that I had never experienced before in the many years I have been living in France.  First was the  overwhelming extremely spirited display of competitiveness around the judgement of cows!  Take a look to what I saw!

While sitting in the bleachers, if I had closed my eyes, I would have sworn that I was at a soccer or football game with all the rooting and roaring applause, when “their” cows won. I also couldn’t understand either the intense inspection and live video projection of each cows  utters.

True, these are the cows that produce the milk that makes  the famous cheeses of the area, such as Comté, Mont d’Or, or Morbier as seen in the photo with the blue in the middle.

I was even more floored to witness a bovine “beauty parlour” where several youths were preening each cow with a passionate display of attention!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Combing and fluffing up their tail hair, spraying their coats with some spray, and constantly wiping their noses and utters to a perfectly pink shine!  Each cow looked at ease and took all this TLC in stride while awaiting their big moment  on stage!

I should mention that in France high school students can opt to attend a professional Lycee high where they learn various trades, such as being a chef, agriculture and wine making, plus many other career venues.

The agricultural students, seen resting with their cows,  are in charge of the daily cleaning of berths and leading the milk cows twice a day for milking.

Not an easy task with a reluctant cow, nor having to follow them with a bucket and bottom wipes ready to catch any dejections on the way.

On to the piggies, where the different races of piglets always gather the most attention! Crowds of raisers and proponent of each race were proudly wearing cap and t-shirts denoting the race of porcine animals.  Cutest was the cul noir, or “black ass” and the black Gascon piglets.

Children can be invited to play races with them, such as gently running them through obstacle courses. Throughout the salon, there are always multiple activities involving children in order to teach them about animals or the plant kingdoms.

Veterinarians staged a kiddie clinic to learn about veterinary care, who are kept busy during the salon.

In one ring they were initiating children how to ride equines, using little ponies. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always love seeing the baby lambs and the rambunctious and playful goats in the ovine section.  As you know, France produces hundreds varieties of goat cheese, so when driving in almost all regions, you will often see goat farms directly selling their cheeses.

This young lady had to milk a very spirited goat who initially kept bucking with one hind leg.

By this time, it was off to see the dogs, which is always a joy, but the competition ring is something you have to practically fight to get in front to see.  The owners were showing off their pups, while eating and sipping  wines from bottles stashed behind.

The mules and donkeys always steal my heart of all the equines, but the horses are all prettied up with colourful brads in their tails and manes, mostly with French tricolor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the animals, it is time for the immense foods sections!  Although I certainly enjoy looking at the various foods of the world section and those of all the regions of France, I am fairly restrained when it comes to buying.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The immense food halls showcased 13 regions of France and Corsica, plus French oversea territories. 

Each region proudly display their all too numerous cheeses and other foods specialities they are famous for.

Those dark mounds are actually delicious cheesecakes made of goat cheese with a blackened crust. They are called Tourteau Fromager and are from the Poitou Charente region of Deux-Sèvres.

Residents from various regions often congregate at the stands drinking and dancing around as these from Picardie and from the islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition each region has their own restaurant, where you can sample regional specialities on the spot, such as truffade and aligot From Auvergne, tartiflette  and raclette from Savoie.

In the foreign food hall called Delices du Monde, you can find  foreign cheeses, sausages and other foods not sold in France or at least hard to find, such as  ones from Bulgaria,  but at a fairly steep price!

With Paris being such a cosmopolitan city, there are ethnic groceries offering  products from all over the world, at lower prices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The plant exhibitions are huge and give you a chance to learn a lot about different varieties of fruits, grain, flowers, vegetables and food crops.  There are mini “fields” planted so as to see what these plants look like in nature.

Their are all sorts of silly games to teach young and old alike about some product. I usually go for the wine games, priding myself of knowing a fair amount about them.

Two years ago I won another corkscrew, and this time plastic chill bags and key chains!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the fish exhibit, I tried my luck shouting out the names of fish and crustaceans to questions posed, but even though I answered correctly first to a few, my voice was too soft to have been heard and the  prize of a bag of fish went to someone else.

After all this game playing, I generally head for some coconut ice cream from the old fashioned wooden ice cream makers at the Guadeloupean stands.  This year, I passed it up as it is often too sweet for my palate.

Sunday, Champagne was flowing freely to  producers who won prizes in their respective categories, be it animal, plant or food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wines, champagnes and all sorts of rum drinks from the many French island territories  were aplenty in the various food sections, but I decided to wait till home to have my own sparkling aperitif!

Another favorite is the aviculture building, where literally hundreds of birds and rabbits are on display.

White coated judges were writing down their merits and defaults, which if any, I never could see, as I found them all quite beautiful!

Some looked cute enough to have as a pet.   I adore hearing the roosters crowing; each one seemingly trying to out crow the other, but I imagine it would strain your nerves after a while.

However wonderful it is to see all the farm animals, there is always the dark or down side that prevails and can not be ignored.  That precisely is the sad fact that many animals seen are raised to be consumed.

I am not a vegetarian, at least not yet.  My own consumption of meat is way down to around two  times a week.  That though is little consolation in confronting my own quilt and hypocrisy of loving animals, yet still having some in my diet.

Our own American Indians offered prayers and thanksgiving to all animals, whose lives were ended in this sacrifice and none of all should consume meat without consciously honouring their souls and sacrifice.

I hope all of us, that are not vegetarians, will at least care enough to try to change laws in our countries to ensure that all animals are raised as humanely as possible! Europe is far ahead of the states in this struggle and I know of various associations that work tirelessly to achieve this ultimate welfare of farm animals, who sacrifice their live to nourish us.

Here are three links, two in the states and one in Europe.  http://certifiedhumane.org/,

http://www.americanhumane.org/ and http://www.ciwf.org.uk

Animal welfare has come a long way, but there still is much to be achieved, and only we humans can speak up for these animals without a voice.

I know many of you are already involved as witnessed on your Facebook pages,  so please keep circulating those online petitions that hopefully will change the way we treat and raise all farm animals.

addendum: This is an updated and refreshed post originally published in 2015 with 2018 photos and text.