A bloody protest was held at the farmer's market in Dieppe, N.B., Saturday morning to bring attention to the plight of family farms in the province.

Jean Eudes Chiasson, the president of the National Farmers Union in New Brunswick, slaughtered a pig in the market's parking lot.

Chiasson said that federal and provincial aid programs favour big industry and said he hoped his statement will serve as a wake-up call.

"If it can only make the general public look on their plate — ask where what they're eating is from," he said.

"Ask your grocer, ask the fruit and vegetable people: Where do they come from? Why do we not have New Brunswick? And why is it not labelled?" he said.

"We need to have a society that has a conscience."

Chiasson said many small scale producers now rely on farmers markets, but they only help the most retail-savvy.

"What is happening is we're losing very, very good producers that are not good at marketing," he said.

Jean-Pierre Gagnon, a farmer from Kent County, said he survives off his stall at the market. He said that's the way the business has changed.

"But I've seen enough frustration to be able to appreciate what's going on here — it's a lot of anger, a lot of hurt."

Chiasson said a growing public demand for local food is helping. But he believes farmers need a new model. He wants to see farmers band together and establish farming co-operatives to manage prices and end competition so family farms can survive for future generations, he said.

The National Farmers Union, incorporated in 1970, works toward the development of economic and social policies that will maintain the family farm as the primary food-producing unit in Canada.