The date of March 8 is now ticked in the diaries of all the salt workers in Retais as well as their counterparts in Guérande and Noirmoutier. The European Commission might that day validate a project for an “Organic Agriculture” label applicable to salt, which has been under construction since 2018. False good news for the producers of Charente-Maritime who work in the salt marshes of the Ile de Ré: this certification provides in the state of work to remove any distinction between artisanal and industrial salts. The former are obtained solely by the combined actions of the sun and the wind. The latter are – most often – extracted from the mines using… chemical processes.
Nonsense for salt workers who defend artisanal and ancestral know-how: “This might create unfortunate precedents for the entire organic sector. Industrialists who produce salt for the roads might be offered this gift opportunely”, regrets Louis Merlin, the president of APSIR, the Association of Salt Producers of the Ile de Ré.
The 600 French salt workers nevertheless received strong support on February 23, during the final session of this term. The National Assembly adopted – unanimously minus one vote – a motion for a resolution aimed at defending more demanding criteria in the awarding of this organic label. This text was imagined under the impetus of Frédérique Tuffnell, MoDem MP for Charente-Maritime, and three other parliamentarians.
Defense of an ancestral and natural harvesting method
They denounce “a skillfully organized pressure” from industrialists, “production methods totally incompatible with the philosophy and standards of organic production” and an “enterprise of devitalization of the concept of organic production”.
“We want to defend an ancestral and natural method of harvesting salt and true organic certification,” insists the elected official. How might consumers tell the difference with industrial salts? Supported by the government, which agreed to put it on the agenda, this motion for a resolution received a large majority among the deputies.
“This national recognition was completely unexpected. It’s very positive,” rejoices Louis Merlin. “We did not expect such a national commitment. It is a good thing that France is openly positioning itself in favor of sea and local salt”, agrees Nicolas Becaud, president of the Cooperative des sauniers de l’île de Ré who, with this “support” has ” want to believe in it”.
By March 8, MP Frédérique Tuffnell has pledged to mobilize her European counterparts. “The 600 French salt workers do not have the strike force of the industrialists nor the same possibility of being heard”, she underlines in the face of the industrialists, in particular supported by the Eastern countries, large producers. “This debate will at least have put the question of production methods on the table,” says Louis Merlin. This may encourage consumers to ask themselves the right questions…”
