According to Rural Families, this sum is what it would “sufficient” to add to the monthly budget of families living at the poverty line to comply with the National Health Nutrition Plan.
According to the Rural Families Association, the nine million most vulnerable French people are missing 65 euros to be able to eat properly according to the National Health Nutrition Plan (PNNS), which recommends eating five fruits and vegetables in particular. per day. This is the observation made by the association which publishes Wednesday February 22 for the 16th consecutive year, its Observatory of consumer prices, which franceinfo was able to consult.
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This sum is therefore what he “would be enough” to add to the monthly budget of families living at the level of the poverty line to respect the PNNS, according to Rural Families, which represents a total of 7.2 billion euros each year. A sum that the association compares to the 20 billion euros spent on “to treat pathologies, induced by a poor diet, which could be avoided”.
From 477 to 1,179 euros for a “varied” basket
The survey first draws up an inventory of the current situation. It reports that, due to inflation, food products increased by 12%, according to INSEE, between October 2021 and October 2022. This increase is more contained with regard to healthy products for health (+ 8, 3%) and + 3.8% for legumes.
If a family of four (two adults, two children) wishes to eat according to the recommendations of the PNNS, it must pay between 477 euros and 1,179 euros every month on average for a “varied” basket. This price of 477 euros concerns a basket where the products are less varied. The amount to be paid reaches 734 euros for a basket containing first-price products. It rises to 814 euros for national brands, and 1,179 euros for organic.
To support its investigation, Rural Families also sends an open letter, dated February 17, to the Minister of Health and Prevention on the urgency of deploying a plan to “eat better, eat healthy”. The association makes the following observation: “If since 2001, i.e. more than 20 years, consumers have heard, read, seen this slogan everywhere [celui disant de manger cinq fruits et légumes par jour]the observation is that they have not integrated it into their food practices. The association is based on the latest study on the subject conducted by Credoc (in 2019) which reveals that only 32% of adults and 10% of children comply with this recommendation. No socio-professional category is exemplary.
Several essential measures
In addition to the allowance of 65 euros per month for low-income households, the association Families Rurales proposes, among other things, to involve health professionals more so that they support parents in their educational role concerning food, or even to prohibit advertisements aimed at children promoting products that are too fatty, too sweet and too salty.
The survey was carried out over four periods (February, April, June and October) in 134 stores by a team of 98 “consumption watchdogs” in 37 departments. The latter went to four sales areas (hypermarkets, supermarkets, predominantly own-brand brands and specialized organic stores). They raised the price of three product lines (national brands, first lowest prices and organic). The surveys covered 85 everyday consumer products distributed according to the 12 food groups referenced in the National Health Nutrition Plan.