Farmer Christian Bernard in his artichoke field on June 26, 2023 in Taulé, Finistère (AFP / Fred TANNEAU)
Cultivated mainly in the north of Brittany, the artichoke is no longer popular in France: perceived as difficult to cook, shunned by the younger generation, its sales are constantly falling and producers are worried about the future of this emblematic vegetable of French gastronomy.
“2022 was a catastrophic year and this year we still have the consequences of the heat and the dry weather”, explains Christian Bernard, 52, in the middle of his field of artichokes in Taulé (Finistère).
“In large fleshy artichokes, we went down to 20/25 euro cents a head paid to the producer. We should be at 55/60…”, plagues the market gardener who has been cultivating this plant for 30 years. A sign of discontent, on June 9 dozens of tons of unsold goods were distributed by producers in Lannion (Côtes-d’Armor).
At issue in this drop in prices, the weather factor: Breton production and that of Roussillon, the 2nd French region, overlapped in an unusual way with an influx in June on the stalls of the artichoke, which is said to like have your feet in the water and your head in the sun.
But in addition to this situation, there is a structural trend to this decline. Because according to Pierre Gélébart, artichoke product manager at Prince de Bretagne, a brand owned by several producer organizations, “we lose 10,000 tonnes of artichoke production every ten years”, which is now only around 20,000 tonnes in the peninsula. Armorican.
How can we explain consumers’ lack of interest in this vegetable that was once very present in families and on canteen menus?
An artichoke in a field, June 26, 2023 in Taulé, Finistère (AFP / Fred TANNEAU)
At a time when meal preparation time is reduced, the artichoke is perceived as a vegetable that takes a long time to prepare, coupled with a tendency to want to skip the starter. “The French meal, starter, main course, dessert, whether we like it or not, is losing momentum”, regrets Mr. Gélébart, stressing that it can be prepared in just ten minutes in the microwave.
The artichoke, in competition with vegetables that were once rare on our plates such as the avocado, hardly appeals to the younger generations. “Nearly 70% of consumers are over 60,” notes Mr. Gélébart.
– “Vegetable of the brave” –
On the producer side, market gardeners are wondering about the future of the artichoke, nicknamed the “vegetable of the brave” because of the working time required to cultivate it, in view of its low profitability.
Farmer Marc Rousseau shows an artichoke in his field on June 26, 2023 in Henvic, Finistère (AFP / Fred TANNEAU)
“It represents 300 hours of work per year per hectare”, compared to eight hours per year for a cereal field, observes Marc Rousseau overlooking his field in Henvic, which offers a magnificent view of the bay of Morlaix.
“You have to look for the consumer and get remunerative prices, otherwise the producers will get tired and turn to another product. It’s a shame to see crops that are part of French gastronomy disappear,” adds the market gardener, stressing that n Italy and Spain the annual consumption of “carciofo” and “alcachofa” per person reached eight to nine kilos against 400 g per French person.
The players in the world of the artichoke, which was introduced for the first time in France on the table of Catherine de Medici in the 16th century and implanted around 1810 in the Breton fields, point to its nutritional qualities and its richness in fibres, its deep roots which make it possible to drain the soil well or even its atypical appearance.
An artichoke in a field, June 26, 2023 in Taulé, Finistère (AFP / Fred TANNEAU)
“There are plenty of virtues in eating the artichoke and for children it has a playful aspect, which we peel”, supports Arnaud Lécuyer, vice-president of the Brittany region in charge of agriculture who called on the social networks to consume this real dish of the poor according to the famous word of Coluche.
Another hope of the sector, Prince de Bretagne, which carried out an advertising campaign in the Paris metro, launched the process with the National Institute of Origin and Quality (Inao) with a view to obtaining a Geographical Indication protected (IGP) artichokes from Brittany.
© 2023 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends with the buttons below.
