Choose a side: the battle to keep French isle McDonald's-free

Mayor on ile d'Oli(C)ron is leading the fight, saying the island is 'not about mass consumption'

Inside a ramshackle former holiday club on the picturesque ile d'Oli(C)ron off France's Atlantic coast, a group of people were screen-printing old T-shirts with anti-burger slogans inspired by the student protests of May 1968. The artwork implored "comrades" to choose their side in the island's battle with McDonald's.

"Oli(C)ron is a beautiful place, it's important to protect it," said Nicolas, 36, an IT worker, who volunteers on a local project to make furniture from discarded wooden pallets. "We don't need McDonald's in a place that is pioneering local organic food, sustainable development, zero waste - alternative ways of living that aren't about mass consumption."