Reservations were highly recommended and for good reason. Twenty minutes before the arrival of the journalist and fervent defender of the animal cause Hugo Clément, already, the queue continues to grow in front of the entrance to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Eure- et-Loir. About 250 people came on Monday, March 27, to meet the journalist and environmental activist, invited by the Esperluète bookstore and author of the book Rabbits don’t eat carrotspublished in September.
Among the public, young people, less young people, elected officials or actors from the associative world. Proof that the subject federates, concerns and questions. “There are few themes that unite us so much today and it’s a chance for the animal cause, which can really bring us together”, recognizes Hugo Clément. “But if the level of consciousness has progressed a lot on the subject, the battle is still far from being won.”
This battle, the journalist, at the helm of the program Sur le front, broadcast on France 5leads it in particular against the practices used in intensive farming, which he tries to make known to the general public.
premium Hugo Clément, in Chartres, this Monday evening, to defend the animal cause: “We slaughter in France 1 billion animals each year, we do not need all that”
Alert to reality
“Most of society is not aware of what happens in intensive farms. When you watch the advertisements on TV, you say to yourself that, ultimately, the hens are not that unhappy. But when you go to intensive farms, you see twenty-two chickens per m2, or one A4 sheet per animal,” he laments.
“There is a certain form of ignorance on the part of the population, who clearly have other priorities than asking themselves ‘what are we actually eating?’ don’t know, even less when you realize that there is no place more difficult to access than a slaughterhouse.”
Hugo Clement
After a speech punctuated by a round of applause, the floor is given to the public, who have come in large numbers to take advantage of the author’s insights. And the questions fly. Horse industry, intensive production of soy, synthetic meat or even mega-basins in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres), a wide range of subjects is swept by the guest of the day, according to the questions of the spectators. “But how can we act?”, one launches in the audience.
Hugo Clément in Chartres: it’s almost complete!
“Things to do, there are plenty,” bounces Hugo Clément. “Changing our consumption patterns, putting pressure on politicians, for example by getting involved in associations. One of the first things to do would surely be this, by the way: join an association for the defense of the animal cause. It must be made a political subject, a real electoral argument.
“Everyone is legitimate to talk about ecology”
Far from being moralistic, Hugo Clément says it, “the objective is not that everyone becomes vegetarian or vegan, because it is not realistic”.
On the contrary, the author wants to be pragmatic and intends to salute “every gesture”. “You have to be careful with the race for purity, the goal is not there. It is more important to have millions of people who reduce their meat consumption, than to have thousands of vegans”, advances- he. At the end of this time of exchanges, the spectators were numerous to want their dedication of the author. Photo: Quentin Reix
Before concluding: “Every gesture that goes in the right direction is good to take and must be encouraged. Everyone is legitimate to talk about ecology. If only exemplary people had the right to talk about this subject, then no one would wouldn’t talk about it.”
Laura Alliche
