The foundations of a nation's life
To me, agriculture, food, and water are not separate subjects.
They are the foundations of a nation's life.
A country that fails to protect its land ends up depending on others to feed itself. A country that fails to protect its water ends up weakening its farmers, its families, its cities, its businesses, and its public health. A country that eats poorly ends up paying the price in hospitals, schools, the workplace, and everyday life.
What agriculture really represents
When I speak of agriculture, I'm not just talking about fields. I'm talking about what everyone finds on their plate: bread, vegetables, meat, milk, fruit, the water we drink, the quality of the soil, the price of groceries, children's health, the life of villages, farmers' work, and France's ability to stand on its own feet without depending on decisions made elsewhere.
Water, a resource to be protected
Water must be treated with the same seriousness. It is used for drinking, producing, healing, cleaning, feeding, cooling, protecting soil, and sustaining whole regions. We can no longer manage it as though it were inexhaustible. We must capture it better when it falls, use it more wisely, waste less of it, and adapt its use to the needs of each territory.
Different realities across the territories
France does not face the same realities everywhere. A mountain town does not live like a dense city. A farm in mainland France does not face the same problems as one in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Mayotte, or French Polynesia. A territory exposed to drought, cyclones, remoteness, or isolation cannot be governed by a rule designed solely from Paris.
Understanding needs before acting
I start by looking at what each territory produces, what it eats, what it imports, what it lacks, the water available to it, the land it must protect, the farmers it must retain, the young people it must train, and the families it must feed.
Protecting the land, the water, and those who produce
From there, I look for what can be improved without breaking what already works. The goal is clear: protect the land that feeds us, protect the water that sustains life, pay producers more fairly, feed the French better, and bring schools, cities, and families closer to what the country actually produces.
A stronger, freer nation
A nation that protects its water is a stronger nation. A nation that looks after its agriculture is also looking after its health, its economy, and its future.
A nation that knows how to feed its people is a freer nation.