Food Fight in France

There is a new French revolution brewing, and this one is being led by small farmers who say they are fed up and won't take it any more, reports CBS News Senior European Correspondent Tom Fenton.

French farmers have a long tradition of protesting, usually against their own government. But this time they say they have a bigger target: the globalization of bad food and the American way of eating.

The ubiquitous McDonald's has become the lightening rod for their anger. It is the symbol of all things bad for Frenchmen who like fine food. Sheep farmer José Bové even became a French national hero for wrecking one.

But it's not just fast food that is driving French farmers to protest. It's also the American sanctions that were slapped on French luxury foods because the French refuse to import American beef laced with hormones.

The underlying issue for the farmers is what they see as an assault by America and big business on traditional farming and quality food. They believe the genetic modification of foods is a particularly worrying trend.

Demonstrations in Britain and elsewhere have made genetically modified foods a hot issue in Europe and have caused America's Monsanto, the leader in genetic modification technology, to start listening to its critics.
And when leaders meet in Seattle on November 30 for a world trade conference, this may make for the food fight of the century.