Will the French blockade on September 10th disrupt fruit and vegetable supplies?

What began as a small-scale call in the spring on a private Telegram channel has now evolved into a French, nationwide wave of mobilization under the banner "Let's block everything". The initiative came from a Northern French citizen collective called Les Essentiels, which initially advocated for a kind of self-imposed lockdown: no work, no shopping, staying home – with the aim of bringing the country to a complete standstill.

Over the summer, the movement grew significantly, particularly on social media platforms such as Facebook, X, TikTok, and other platforms. Its scope also broadened: from a symbolic shutdown to calls for a general strike, occupations, and blockades of strategic locations.

Just like the Yellow Vests, this is a so-called horizontal movement: not led by a political party's union, but by a loose group of citizens mobilizing through social networks. Yet, the traditional players are surprisingly not sidelined for long. Left-wing parties like LFI, PS, EELV, and the Communist Party joined, as did combined unions like CGT (particularly in trade and services), Solidaires, and Confédération Paysanne.

The FNSEA, France's largest growers' organization, opted for a different approach. During its autumn conference, it announced it would not participate in this day of action, but did announce that the agricultural sector would launch its own actions later this autumn.

"Railway stations, ports, airports, and Rungis"
The French Minister of Home Affairs, Bruno Retailleau, has asked prefects to prevent "any attempt to block infrastructures essential to the life of the nation, which must be systematically unblocked as quickly as possible."

According to a memo from territorial intelligence consulted by Le Parisien, the protests are likely to take the form of "blockades and occupations of premises, rather than traditional demonstrations on public highways, which are not very popular with protesters." Potential targets include railway stations, ports, airports, main roads, power stations, oil depots, logistics platforms, and strategic supply centers such as the Rungis market of national interest.

The Le Havre port is on the mobilization map. Airports are also in the firing line. The Sud Aérien union is calling for strikes and platform blockades.

The retail sector is also on alert. As reported by LSA, the CGT Commerce et Services is calling for action to be stepped up on September 10th in a large number of catering chains (Flunch, Elior, Sodexo, Sysco), as well as chains such as Carrefour. While the scale of the movement remains unknown, local disruptions could be added to the logistical blockades.

A movement that is hard to predict
It remains difficult to predict whether the day will take the form of a symbolic mobilization or a genuine shutdown of the economy, as the details remain unclear. Calls are being made locally, via social networks and encrypted messages (Telegram, Signal) "to build a strike wherever possible." Interactive maps (like the one above from the indignonsnous.fr website) list rally points and planned actions. Rallies, blockades, free tolls: There are many ways of taking action, but nothing is officially defined. This lack of coordination means that the scenario is unpredictable.