This is an event that not everyone agrees with: exhibition Bio & Co is back in Besançon from Friday 12th April to Sunday 14th April. 120 exhibitors took place at the Micropolis exhibition center. Among them farmers and producers, but also other controversial professions: naturopaths, energy experts and even stone sellers. of “charlatanism” condemn the teams of researchers in Franche-Comté.
Tarot and crystal stands
Between the honey and cookie stands, tarot card and crystal stands take up most of the aisles. “The Malachi stone is good for the back!” the saleswoman slips by her customer. With a necklace around her neck, Dominique proudly displays the new stone she just bought. “It’s putting the energies back in place.”
Salome Pineda
Jean-Claude and Claudine use their words carefully at the wellness massage booth. Practicing kobido facial massage, “A Japanese practice that stimulates the facial muscles.” She, body care. But both refute the term alternative medicine. “We are not doctors.” they confirm in their hearts. “It is important to distinguish,” Claudine bounces back,“I have no right to say that I will cure them or heal them, but if I do them good, so much the better.”
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Salome Pineda
“Science is not about punch lines”
Rhetoric that the collective of researchers from the chrono-environmental laboratory, UMR and CNRS, considers ambivalent. “Exhibitors and speakers are all the more dangerous because most of them use rhetoric compatible with the current legal framework: they will talk about ‘relief’ rather than treatment” (…)” we can read in their press release.
“It’s the dictionary that protects them”, emphasizes Didier Hocquet, professor of microbiology in Besançon. However,“Science is not about punchlines. Although he didn’t go there, the titles from the 70 scheduled conferences were enough for him to worry about. “What bothers me is that they are selling or advocating care that has never been evaluated. Influential people are advocating anti-vax positions.”
The whole problem for him is to be able to ask the necessary questions without falling into a condescending to the public in search of meaning. “The danger to me is delay in treating pathology and therapeutic drift. Patients need to be vigilant and simply ask for proof of efficacy.” concludes.
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“Everyone is free to believe what they want”
In the show, it seems that even the exhibitors are not on the same page. “Look, I was offered a stone for 12 euros and then I got the same one for 6 euros…” regrets Robert, the “radiesthetist”, in other words, the watchmaker. If Claudine and Jean-Claude maintain their good faith, the couple is well aware of the abuses in this area. “Everyone can believe what they want, but it’s like everywhere, there are quacks in all professions!”
Salome Pineda
Among the telltale signs: prizes and many more positive comments. “If you suffer from an illness, it will necessarily get better,” insists Denis. The flashing green label reads that it protects her mattress protectors “electromagnetic waves.” With the first prize of 300 euros, Denis is not giving up.”it works!”