The association Rural Families asked the executive on Wednesday to create a monthly allowance of 65 euros to help low-income households eat healthily while the country is facing high inflation, especially on food products.
In its annual Price Observatory*, the association notes that a family of two adults and two children must pay at least 477 euros per month to eat healthy - that is to say by buying seasonal products and sufficiently varied with regard to the recommendations of the National Health and Nutrition Plan.
However, according to estimates by Rural Families, this amount is almost 65 euros higher than what families living at the poverty line can afford. Hence the idea, relayed in a letter to the Minister of Health François Braun, to pay a specific allowance to the most modest households.
Paying less with a healthier diet
Its annual cost is estimated at 7.2 billion euros. A sum that the association compares to the "20 billion euros spent on treating pathologies that could be avoided" by eating healthier. In a context where food inflation has exceeded 12% over one year in 2022, having a balanced diet also makes it possible to pay less, says Rural Families, according to which the increase in the prices of healthy products was limited to 8.3%.
"One of the reasons for this is that the healthiest products for our health are generally the least processed foods and whose production requires fewer intermediaries," Rural Family says in its study. Of the seven product categories selected, pulses (+3.8%) had the lowest inflation and oils and fats (+12.9%) the largest price increases. Grain and starchy products rose 11.2%, while fruit and vegetable prices rose 10.7%.
*The survey was conducted over four periods (February, April, June and October 2022) in 134 stores by a team of 98 "consumption watchers" in 37 departments. The surveys covered 85 everyday consumer products.
- Society
- Inflation
- Economy
- Feeding
- Precariousness