The coronavirus crisis has accentuated the trend.
In a few years, our plates are more and more vegetable and less and less meaty.
From 1990 to 2019, meat consumption increased from 93 to 85 kilos per person per year.
Only one exception, that of poultry, increased from 21 kg in 1990 to more than 28 kg currently.
Unlike beef, fish is experiencing a marked resurgence of interest (from 19 to 24 kilos on average per person and per year from 1999 to 2018), as are fruits and vegetables, organic and non-organic, whose purchases by households have increased by 4.9% from 2019 to today.
This picture is encouraging for environmental defenders and health professionals, since a diet richer in plants can both reduce our impact on natural resources and the risk of developing certain diseases linked to overweight.
However, it worries the High Commission for Planning (HCP) which, in a strategic note made public this Thursday but which we were able to read before publication, is alarmed by the inability of French agriculture to meet these needs in mutations.
Demand for fruit on the rise
“If we consider the increasing demand for fruit, for example, our country has a serious problem,” notes one of the authors of the note.
Because orchard areas have decreased by 12% on average since 2000. For some fruit trees, the drop is drastic: 29% for apple trees, 34% for cherry trees and even 59% for peach and nectarine trees.
We can say that this is not essential, but when at the same time we import the equivalent of 85 million euros of apple juice, there is necessarily a correction to be made.
"
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The finding is also severe on other foodstuffs.
“For example, we calculated using the five vegetables that go into the composition of a classic dish, ratatouille,” continues the expert.
The deficit then amounts to 650 million euros per year between what we import and what we could produce in tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplants and onions.
If we focus solely on our national organic production, this only covers 67% of our needs and a third of the organic consumed in France is imported.
"
Have a global vision
The HCP, whose mission is to "enlighten the choices of public authorities with regard to demographic, economic, social, environmental, health, technological and cultural issues", refuses to give specific recommendations to change the situation and rebalance agricultural production. . "We set
the stage
with findings that are sufficient in themselves for the government to deploy a strategy," said one within the body.
The boss of the HCP, the former Minister of National Education and multiple presidential candidate François Bayrou, puts more emphasis on the export of our agricultural products without dwelling exclusively on French food trends. "A humanity of 8 billion people going to 10 billion people in 2050 will undoubtedly consume increasing amounts of calories and protein," he estimates. It is therefore necessary to escape the short-termist message sent back to us by the mirror of the evolution of the tastes of French society. For example, even if the French consume less bread, the planet will consume very large quantities of additional cereals. Likewise, if the consumption of wine in France has more than halved since the 1980s,it is increasing globally and particularly in Asia. "