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Urban farming

(article, Culinate staff)

In late May, French farmers staged a two-day spectacle that was part protest, part celebration: shutting down the broad Champs Elysées avenue in Paris and covering it with farmland. As the Guardian reported,  "From wheat and mustard to grapevines and Limousin pigs, the avenue's pavements have been carpeted with lorry-loads of produce from all over France, among it 650 fully grown trees and a vast array of flora intended to symbolise the country's biodiversity." At issue? The plight of France's farmers, who have seen costs rise and profits shrink as a result of the global recession.