NOTur food system must be transformed to guarantee access for the entire population to healthy food, respecting the living conditions of farmers and planetary limits. It is crucial to restore social and environmental balances, to ensure food security, and to avoid diseases and pollution whose treatment costs hundreds of millions of euros.
This requires the generalization of agroecological production systems, which rely on the functioning of ecosystems to limit synthetic inputs. Organic farming is one of the most advanced forms, with proven benefits for health and the environment and an approach to progress that continues to be encouraged.
However, organic is experiencing a major crisis, which is leading to a fall in farmers’ income and risks pushing the sector below 10% of the agricultural area, while the government’s objective is 21% in 2030. This situation is the result of unsuitable policies. , which weaken organic production and reserve its consumption for the wealthiest.
A stronger commitment from the State to organic
In 2023, organic production is too weakly supported compared to intensive systems that heavily use synthetic inputs, which are highly supported despite fewer production constraints and hidden costs for the environment and health. Support for organic consumption is weak, and even public collective catering does not respect the obligation of 20% organic purchases. Organic sectors do not have suitable tools to manage overproduction crises. Consequences: the economic viability of organic is not assured, support for organic weighs on consumers, and the poorest have little access to it. Current inflation makes the situation even worse.
It is time for the State to send a clear message: all French agriculture must move to agroecology and, wherever relevant, to organic, and the entire population must have access to these quality products! This calls for a strong commitment from the ministries responsible for agriculture and food, but also for ecology, territories, energy, health, solidarity, economy, finance and education, under the leadership of the Prime Minister.
The coming weeks are crucial for making organic one of the spearheads of the transition towards a more ecological and fairer model. The debates on the 2024 budget, the agricultural orientation and future law and the “national strategy for food, nutrition and climate” (Snanc) are an opportunity to supplement emergency aid by adapting the rules, by providing better information and redirecting public money in a way that will ultimately reduce health and pollution control spending. We identify here three areas of action.
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