Fight against food waste in France

 

 

Despite the fact that France is the leading agricultural power in the European Union, every year a third of food is wasted in the country. Faced with the aggressive and incessant incitement to consumption on the part of supermarkets the “anti-food waste” laws are proving to be timid. Here is a summary of an article from Le Monde Diplomatique of September 2021 [1]. 

France, a major agricultural power in the European Union 

France provides a fifth of Europe's agriculture production. It is a net exporter of many foodstuffs such as cereals, sugar, dairy products, meat, etc. Even in the field of organic farming, France already has the second largest farming area in Europe. It also boasts of an efficient transport and distribution network, connecting its territory. 

33% of agricultural production wasted 

The amount of food wasted every year in France amounts to 10 million tons. In other words, a third of agricultural production is lost somewhere between the farm and the food plate. The food products whose prices have collapsed are thrown in the dustbin, so are the spoiled and the unsold ones. According to the Ecological Transition Agency the responsibility of food wastage can be attributed as: producers (32%), processors (21%), distributors (14%) and consumers (33%). A consumer wastes an average of 30 kilograms of food each year. Not only do these losses cost 16 billion euros per year but also a great deal of resources – land, oil, water – are unnecessarily utilized to produce, transport and process the waste. 

The incentive to consume 

Every year 20 billion printed advertising pamphlets, mainly for mass distribution, clutter mailboxes: 50% off on the second product purchased, 30% instant discount, 20% off on the set of two, Buy 2 get 1 free, 10% off on the final bill from Tuesday to Sunday inclusive... The super markets justify this massive consumption of paper (40 kilograms per year and per person) by arguing that half of French people consult these pamphlets and that a third of them would choose their products according to the discounts offered [2]. Children (who are easily influenced) are also exposed to food advertisements, especially via videos. The 2016 Gattolin law, concerning the ban on commercial advertising during children's programs on public television only concerns public channels, which represent less than 1% of children's screen time. 

The aggressive advertisement has become quasi permanent and ubiquitous. Prices no longer correspond to the quantity of labor and capital necessary for production but to the stocks that manufacturers manage to put on the market. These must be disposed of quickly since foodstuffs are perishable. The permanent discount reflects the other side of food overproduction and food waste. 

Anti-food waste laws 

In 2016 the French government undertook to reduce the food waste by half by 2025. In particular by obliging large super markets to not destroy their unsold products but to give them to associations. On the other hand, on the pretext of protecting private property, it is still forbidden to rummage through a supermarket dustbin as the car parking is private! However, picking expired products has not been considered theft since 2015. The regulation is clearly timid. 

It is high time to make the fight against food waste a matter of political and societal priority.

 

[1] https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2021/09/ELIE/63446

[2] Selon les sondages Nielsen et Ipsos.