Paris’ most famous road has been turned into a giant farm – complete with animals, pot plants and trees – to highlight France’s crisis-hit agricultural industry.
Organised by the Young Farmers’ Association and the French forest industry, the two-day event along the Champs Elysees is expected to draw two million visitors.
More than 100 varieties of grain, fruit and vegetables as well as cows, pigs, goats and lambs have been put on show.
The event dubbed Nature Capital aims to highlight the work of France’s farmers, a diminishing breed because of falling prices and rocketing production costs.
“We are not there to complain about our situation, but rather to show off our work,” said William Villeneuve, head of the Young Farmers’ Association.
He hopes people will think about “what is on their plates and become more active consumers”.
Gad Weil, whose Nature Capital group conceived the project, is also hoping the event will encourage citydwellers to think about the values of Mother Nature.
“It’s a way to remind people that man lives at the heart of nature,” he said.
Last month, hundreds of farmers rode into Paris on their tractors, bringing their worries about the future of farming to the capital of Europe’s agricultural powerhouse.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has in past months made several trips to rural France, visiting farms and trying to ease the anger of producers who say they are no longer making ends meet.
His government has offered an aid plan for French farmers with some 1.8bn euros (£1.5bn) in loans and 650m euros (£564m) in other support payments.
