A study estimates the social and environmental cost of feeding the French at at least 19 billion euros

Four associations published a study on Tuesday estimating the price of our food at 19 billion euros in reparations and compensation.

A study, published on Tuesday September 17 by four associations, Secours Catholique, the Civam network, Solidarités Paysans and the French Federation of Diabetics, figures “the price of our food” has “19 billion euros in reparations and compensation“, that is to say the compensations linked to the “dysfunctions of our food system”, in France. “negative effects” which concern “the health, environment and society of our current food system”.

These 19 billion include in particular 12.3 billion euros of health expenditure, linked “to our poor diet, obesity and diabetes in particular”as well as “occupational diseases linked to the use of pesticides”The study estimates the ecological cost at 3.4 billion euros for “repairing all the damage to the food system”like the “climate change mitigation, waste management, water remediation…”. 3.4 billion euros are also spent on “social impacts”, especially for “compensating for low wages in the agricultural sector”.

The study only covers public expenditure related to “reparations and compensations” malfunctions, so the “very real expenses that are found in public accounting”. The four associations have however “refused to give an equivalent in euros to years of life expectancy less or to speculate on the losses of productivity linked to the collapse of life” or even to quantify “the feeling of helplessness and anxiety at not being able to feed one’s children.”

As a result, the authors of the study estimate that these 19 billion only cover a “small part of societal costs”, that is to say “costs borne by society”. 19 billion, “This is almost double the budget allocated for ecological planning in 2024.” Furthermore, they project that “The 19 billion that our country is already spending to repair a small part of the damage will only increase in the coming years.”

They also denounce the 48.3 billion euros of public support for this system, including “80% maintain a model that is the source of most of these impacts”, because they “benefit players caught in a race for volumes, which goes hand in hand with the standardization of agricultural raw materials and pressure on prices paid by farmers.” A model that “is only possible because there is a significant system of public aid and reparations.”

These are in particular the aids from the CAP, the common agricultural policy of the European Union which is “a key source of financial support”particularly on farmers’ income, but “The State represents the most important financier and also the most blind, because very little of its support is conditional on sustainable social and ecological practices.”

The recommendations of the authors of the study are, firstly, more “democracy”, with “popular education on these subjects, places of access to food” and more citizen participation in decisions that affect the food system. Second, a “access to rights and financial accessibility” with “different types of financial support for sustainable and quality food”, as “prepaid cards, meal vouchers or social pricing”. They also wish for a “better management of public policies” of support.

They then demand “massifying the agroecological transition”, by acting on “all the links in the chain” and not only on producers and consumers, but also on the actors of “mid-chain”. Finally, according to the study, it is necessary “regulate international trade”, including better free trade agreements and import conditions that must “respect environmental, health and social standards”.