In France, agriculture is the second source of greenhouse gas emissions, at 19%. Unlike other sectors, such as transport or construction – whose emissions are essentially energy-related – emissions from agriculture are made up of 45% methane, mainly from the digestion of animals. breeding, and 43% nitrous oxide. The agricultural land needed to produce food for these livestock also eats away at the forest, which nevertheless represents a valuable carbon sink.
Because cattle are by far the farms that emit the most greenhouse gases, as detailed in this infographic relayed by the Carbon Brief website (in English)the National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC) – the official document that describes the efforts to be made sector by sector – recommends “limit excess consumption of charcuterie and meat (excluding poultry)” in favor of legumes and fruit and vegetables.
However, this recommendation does not arouse the support of candidates for the presidential election, reveals the analysis of the programs carried out by The Shifters, an association of volunteers who support The Shift Project, a think tank specializing in the energy transition. On the contrary, this campaign has seen the emergence of a discourse in defense of meat.
Faced with the climate emergency, “candidates take little risk in proposing dare measures which involve changes in consumption or production”, analyze The Shifters. Thus, the reduction in the meat share in the diet “is approached in a marginal and euphemistic way by the candidates”. Of the 12 contenders for the Elysee Palace, only two of them – Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon – promise to promote a less meaty diet.
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Others thus approach the contents of the plate in hollow. Without mentioning meat, the socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo defends for example “autonomy in vegetable proteins”when sovereigntist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan asked “the launch of a production and consumption plan for French fruit and vegetables”. Marine Le Pen offers a food origin labeling “which could have an impact on climate-friendly consumption”, report The Shifters.
Little present in the programs, the meat however found itself on the menu of the campaign, put on the table by Fabien Roussel. The communist candidate declared at the beginning of January that“good wine, good meat, good cheese: that’s French gastronomy”sparking controversy gastronomic-cultural. “Fabien Roussel threw a stone into the pond to distinguish himself from ecologists and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. But basically, his program is not particularly pro-meat”observes Bruno Granier, food manager of the Climate Action Network.
The speech itself is “effective from an electoral point of view”, notes the specialist. In a campaign with little focus on environmental issues, meat has become a popular heritage to be defended against the supposed attacks of part of the left, often accused of sacrificing traditions on the altar of the fight against global warming and the protection of biodiversity. “No offense to some, a Charolais pavé washed down with a good wine, that’s the France of the table!”, also abounded Valérie Pécresse, the Republican candidate, at a meeting in Paris on February 13.
The reduction in meat consumption advocated in the SNBC takes the “against the rise in meat consumption associated with the rise in the standard of living for two centuries”, note The Shifters. However, this imaginary is eroded over the years, while the concern of the French for environmental issues increases. The consumption of meat products has thus decreased by 12% between 2007 and 2016, estimates the Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (Crédoc).
According to a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by the Climate Action Network (RAC) and published in February 2021, 48% of people who eat meat – at least occasionally – claim to have reduced their consumption in the last three years. A more marked trend in the cities and in the upper classes, details the study, which further reveals that the working classes are among the biggest consumers of meat.
Also, past the exaggerations of a caricatural speech referring back to back “France bavette” against “France tofu”, eating less meat, but better quality meat, is a consensus. The survey details: “74% of French people would take advantage of the savings made by reducing their meat consumption to invest in better quality foodand in particular better quality meat (organic, locally produced, fairly remunerated for the producer, animals raised in the open air, etc.).
An idea defended by all the candidates, starting with Fabien Roussel himself. Because the short sentence on French gastronomy which lit the barbecue at the beginning of January has often been truncated. Asked about another French passion (wine), he then declared: “Good wine, like good meat, it is better to drink little, but good, eat less, but good, drink French and eat French meat, but above all that everyone has access to it, because that’s expensive.”
While brandishing the specter of a ban on meat, the communist candidate thus recently added to his climate booklet a measure in favor of less meat menus in collective catering, in accordance with the recommendations published at the end of March by the Climate Action Network, notes Benoît Granier. A measure already present at Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, although too little detailed in the programs, according to The Shifters.
Acting on canteens is in line with the Climate Law, which ratified, in August 2021, the principle of at least one vegetarian meal per week. In a study published on March 24 in the journal European Journal of Nutrition, researchers from Inrae propose to go further by removing red meat from the menus of school canteens. Three vegetarian menus per week, fish and white meat at the two other midday meals constitute “an interesting way to reconcile good nutrition and respect for the environment”they believe, highlighting the health risks of consuming too much red meat.
Other ambitious measures have not been able to impose themselves in the programs, notes Benoît Granier, who cites the revision of the nutritional references of the National Health Nutrition Program (PNNS). Currently, this document recommends not to exceed 500 g of red meat per week. “Countries like Denmark have reviewed these references and now recommend limiting yourself to 300 g of meat, all meat combined, per week.he explains. We could imagine campaigns to encourage people to eat less meat, but better. A moderation that is both good for people and for the planet but, according to the majority of candidates, a bit politically risky.