Anne-Cécile SUZANNE is a mixed crop-livestock farmer, part of which is organic.
Arthur PORTIER is a cereal producer in the Oise region and markets his production in long chains.
Not a day goes by without our opposing the different agricultural models: conventional agriculture versus organic agriculture, export versus short circuit, plowing versus direct sowing, breeding versus large crops.
Any pretext is good to denounce what makes the diversity of our agriculture.
However, this diversity, envied by many countries, is a real strength for France.
Witness is the report of the FAO (United Nations organization for agriculture and food) released on November 4, on the cost of access to food.
At the end of the year 2021, this cost is record and exceeds the levels reached in 2011. That year marked the revolt of part of the population in several countries of the African continent.
The cause ?
Food that has become difficult to access due to a significant increase in world prices on which they are dependent.
In a context of a deficit trade balance, the agricultural sector acts as an intruder by posting an always positive surplus.
Anne-Cécile Suzanne and Arthur Portier
Food sovereignty then takes on its full meaning.
But what is food sovereignty?
It is first of all an agriculture which fulfills its nourishing function for the French, for Europe but also for the rest of the world.
Moreover, in a context of a deficit trade balance, the agricultural sector acts as an intruder by posting an always positive surplus.
Beyond these functions of national interest, part of our agriculture has a central role in the maintenance of social peace in many countries.
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It is a real mission which is to this day entrusted to "private farmers" and the main cereal produced is an example. Of the 35 Mt of soft wheat cultivated in France, half find the way to export. With one ton produced out of two exported, France is positioned as a preferred supplier to international buyers such as Algeria, Morocco, sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt or more recently China. The latter has also shown the fragility of its model since the poor maize harvest in the country, combined with the logistical problems linked to the health crisis, pushed the authorities to take strong decisions. This is how the Middle Kingdom increased its imports of corn by 270% between 2019 and 2020, wheat by 97% and barley by 89%.And for good reason: not meeting the needs of the population could put the inhabitants in the streets, an inconceivable political risk for the government in place ... Food sovereignty is therefore an undeniable security and diplomatic asset.
If the abundance of food on the shelves seems obvious to most of the French population, taking the height reminds us of the fragility of this de facto situation and how much a food crisis would shake our country.
Anne-Cécile Suzanne and Arthur Portier
But food sovereignty also means the freedom to choose what you want to eat: being able to consume a variety of foods, at the quality you want, produced according to the conditions that you consider enviable, wherever you want. wants to see them produced.
Here too, we are very lucky to be French.
French agriculture is still family farming, with farms with diversified productions and whose organization of work, soil and production is far from being homogenized. There is something for every taste ! But the consumer still needs to be well informed. This is where the precision of labeling and the traceability of production methods, origins and qualities becomes absolutely essential, and it must be demanded. Without forgetting a central consideration: it is good to claim the best from farmers, but you also have to know how to pay for it.
All the circuits of our national agricultural production therefore participate in our sovereignty and therefore in our security.
If the abundance of food on the shelves seems obvious to most of the French population, taking the height reminds us of the fragility of this de facto situation and how much a food crisis would shake our country.
Beyond that, our current food comfort should not prevent us from worrying about what is happening in other countries, because who says food crisis says humanitarian, migratory and security crisis, so many tensions that will undoubtedly have , repercussions on the security and migratory flows of the European continent.
