thumb|200px|josÃ© bovÃ© (2013) joseph (josÃ©) bovÃ© (born june 11, 1953 in talence, gironde) is a french farmer, politician and syndicalist, member of the alter-globalization movement, and spokesman for via campesina. he is co-leader of the european greens and was one of the twelve official candidates in the 2007 french presidential election. on 7 june 2009, he was elected to the european parliament as a member of europe Ãcologie, a coalition of french environmentalist political parties. == early life == thumb|300px|josÃ© bovÃ© (paris, may 2005) bovÃ© was born in talence, near bordeaux, but raised in many different places, both inside and outside france, including the united states. bovÃ© speaks english fluently, having followed his parents to berkeley, california at the age of three, when they were invited to be researchers at the university of california, berkeley. bovÃ© attended a jesuit secondary school near paris (from which he was expelled for being "faithless"). while at university, he associated with anarchists and pacifists. when asked to serve in the army, he fled france. == anti-military activist == in 1976 bovÃ© joined the fight for the larzac, a movement protesting the proposed expansion of a military camp on the larzac plateau, which would have displaced sheep farmers. he joined a band of peasants occupying the threatened territory and illegally building a sheep barn. the protest eventually succeeded and the military plan was cancelled. as a result of that experience he became a sheep farmer, producing roquefort cheese on the larzac. == agricultural unionist == bovÃ© remained a farmer and an activist. in 1987, he formed the confÃ©dÃ©ration paysanne, an agricultural union that places its highest political values on humans and the environment, promoting organic farming. in opposition to many companies in the profit-oriented agro-industry, bovÃ© is a prominent opponent of genetically modified organisms. in 1995, he joined greenpeace on their ship, the rainbow warrior, in opposition to nuclear weapons testing in the pacific ocean. he also has been part of the anarchist organization alternative libertaire. the event which brought bovÃ© and the confÃ©dÃ©ration to the foreground was the dismantling of a mcdonald's franchise that was under construction in millau (aveyron) in 1999.[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x16jyr_jose-bove-farmers-attack-to-mcdonal video relating
1953_births Anarcho-pacifists Anti-globalization_activists Candidates_for_the_French_presidential_election,_2007 Europe_Ecology_a_The_Greens_MEPs French_anarchists French_pacifists French_socialists Living_people MEPs_for_South-West_France_2009a14 MEPs_for_South-West_France_2014a19 People_from_Talence