Near the small village of Lescout there is a big hen factory farm, currently farming 185,000 hens. The primary school of Lescout is located only 500 meters away from the factory farm, and is regularly exposed to smells coming from the facility. While visiting the area and interviewing community members, Greenpeace France heard about several cases of unexplained illness, including stomach pain and headache, especially among students.
Cathy Double, 38 years old, is an auxiliary teacher that used to work in the school: “During some mornings, the smell was so corrosive in the throat and nose that on the sake of children’s safety, we preferred to keep them indoors during playtime. Both parents and students reported recurrent stomach and headaches. Some parents of current students are questioning whether their children should continue their education in the school. [I think that] the state should set measurements of the air [quality] to really know all the particles that the farm is emitting.”