Environment: Guns or Cheese?

• Share

Caesar was conquered by it. Charlemagne pronounced its rich, pungent flavor "fit for the gods." Casanova recommended it as a preparation for love, and Pope Leo XIII treasured it as a gift. Ironically, the noble Roquefort cheese comes from one of France's wildest regions. Indeed, the Causse du Larzac in the Massif Central is a limestone plateau so austere and stony that it is beloved only by gazing tourists and grazing sheep. Confident that the isolation would last, the Roquefort cheese industry has long encouraged shepherds in the area to enlarge their flocks. Since 1966, the additional flood of ewe's milk has tripled, swelling the output of the blue-veined cheese.

The sere plateau is now the focus of an encompassing controversy. The French army has a base there and wants to expand it by taking over 35,000 acres of the sparse pasture land. The generals argue that they will need room for tank maneuvers and artillery practice when French ground troops eventually quit their bases in Germany. An odd coalition of environmentalists, tourist associations and antimilitarists are up in arms. Last month, 6,000 demonstrators marched in the town of Millau in angry, if so far vain protest.

Hardest hit of all, Roquefort cheese makers fear that if the army gets its way, they will have to cut exports back by 25%, or 300 tons. They are now calling for Roquefort cheese lovers of the world to unite.