lobbies oppose nearly half of the proposals made by the National Food Council

2023-04-21 09:03:10

Agricultural lobbies are firmly opposed to almost half of the recommended priority measures, franceinfo learned on Friday.

Article written by

Published on 21/04/2023 11:03

Reading time : 2 min.

Spreading in a field, in Ille-et-Vilaine (illustration), May 10, 2022. (VINCENT MICHEL / MAXPPP)

Agricultural and agri-food lobbies strongly oppose 19 of the 39 priority recommendations formulated by the National Food Council in its opinion delivered to the government and which franceinfo was able to consult this Friday, April 21.

>> Food voucher, organic farming, drought and pesticides… What to remember from the interview with the new president of the FNSEA

This advisory body is notably made up of associations such as UFC-Que Choisir or Réseau Action climat, but also the Association of Food Industries (Ania), which represents the interests of the food industry and the FNSEA, main agricultural union. It formulated an opinion of a hundred pages, with priority recommendations. They must serve as a basis for the government to establish the future National Strategy for Food, Nutrition and Climate (SNANC), resulting from the proposals of the Citizens’ Climate Convention. The executive must indeed define, before July 1, the objectives of France in terms of food for the next ten years.

The agricultural and agri-food lobbies are therefore mobilizing to weaken the scope of the opinion of the National Food Council as much as possible. And they have already won a few battles, according to information from franceinfo. In particular, they obtained that the expression “Intensive livestock” and let the word be used “moderation” rather than “reduction of meat consumption”.

Half of the measures rejected

In total, these lobbies are firmly opposed to nearly half of the recommended priority measures. These objections are written in black and white in the notice sent to the executive. “The FNSEA expresses a point of disagreement” for example, for France to align itself with European policies providing for a 50% reduction in the use of phytosanitary products, pesticides and herbicides by 2030. Ania and the FNSEA are also opposed to “frame and regulate the marketing and of products that go against a balanced, healthy and sustainable diet to protect consumers and children in particular”.

The lobbies are also unanimously opposed to the introduction of environmental labeling on food products to show how they are farmed, but also to the launch of campaigns aimed at the general public in favor of a “moderation” meat consumption in favor of fruits and vegetables.

The recommendations of the SNANC are now in the hands of the government. The Directorate General of Health confirms to franceinfo on Friday that the National Food Council will be consulted again, with other organizations, on this SNANC project “around the months of May-June”.