Protest of French farmers for importing foreign meat falsely shared as a response to the fast food company’s support for the Israeli army.

The video shows a protest by French farmers against fast food chains for their inadequate sourcing of French meat.

McDonald’s has found itself in the midst of controversy after its Israeli franchise announced plans to provide free meals to Israeli soldiers during the conflict with Hamas. Amid this, a video showing truck unloading animal dung in front of a McDonald’s outlet was widely shared on social media.
Users who shared the video claim that protests have taken place in France by dumping animal dung in front of a McDonald’s branch for supporting Israel. The caption of the video states, “Protesters in #France filled McDonald’s courtyard with dung. This was done because of Israel’s support for the ongoing genocide of Palestinians”.

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Fact Check-

We started our investigation by running a Google reverse image and keyword search, whose results revealed a report by Ouest-France, French daily, published on 24 November, 2023. The report carried a still from the viral video, mentioned that 150 farmers from Haute-Saône in France dumped manure in front of McDonald’s and Burger King outlets in Vesoul. The protest was organised to denounce fast-food giants for their inadequate sourcing of French meat. The report adds that the farmers, represented by the Departmental Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FDSEA), criticised fast-food chains for extensively importing foreign meat — approximately 50 per cent — to produce their burgers.

As per reports, “Around fifty breeders from Haute-Saône gathered  in Vesoul to dump manure in front of the town’s McDonald’s and Burger King, at the call of the FDSEA70 and the Young Farmers of Haute-Saône. They demand that fast food restaurants serve French meat”.

In further search we came across a press note released by FDSEA on Facebook. It stated that France has lost approximately one million cows in the last seven years, resulting in an ongoing fall in the number of animal farms. The post also included photographs of annoyed farmers lining up with their tractors to deliver dung to the protest site, as well as a still from the viral video of the red truck depositing manure outside a McDonald’s.

Taking account of these evidences we can understand that the video is unrelated to the current Israel-Hamas conflict.  French farmers’ protest falsely shared as a response to the fast food company’s support for the Israeli army.

Conclusion-

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the video to be False. Farmers in France dumped manure in front of the McDonald’s and Burger King for not sourcing enough French meat.