French farmers go on egg smashing rampage over low prices

French farmers, outraged over the price of eggs, have taken to another round of egg-breaking in the Brittany region. The collective has pledged that they will break 100,000 eggs in public everyday until its demands are met.

AFP/Fred Tanneau

In the town of Carhaix on Wednesday evening, farmers launched eggs at the town’s tax office. The night before, the collective – who has yet to publicly name a spokesperson – organised an egg-throwing protest near a supermarket in the nearby Cotes d’Armor department.

The group of farmers says they will continue their protests until the government reacts to their demands: for measures to be taken to raise the price of eggs.

According to a union that represents poultry farmers in Brittany, egg producers currently get paid 75 cents per kilogram of eggs, compared to the 95 cent cost price.

Egg prices have fallen in recent months as a result of overproduction, an issue also confronting other countries within the European Union. French poultry farmers say the drop in prices doesn’t make up for the rise in production costs. They also say that the investments they were forced to make as part of an EU directive in January 2012, to protect the well-being of hens, has not paid off.

The farmers involved in the protest say that destroying 100,000 eggs per day equates to five percent of their production. They’ve asked the government to set up a specific area in which they can destroy the eggs.

The group says they will continue their egg smashing until Sunday, after which they will take more extreme measures.

Their unnamed spokesperson said they’re at their wits' end. “We're ready to give these
eggs to developing countries, but they cannot stay on French territory.”