• The Climate Action Network, a federation of environmental NGOs, and Harris interactive publish this Tuesday the second edition of their barometer on the French and their meat consumption.
  • 57% of French people say they have reduced their meat consumption in the last three years and 39% want to do so. Percentages up nine points, each time, compared to 2021.
  • However, in actual practices, "our meat consumption remains much higher than what it would take to have a healthy and sustainable diet," points out the RAC. So how can this food transition be accelerated? The barometer also looked at this issue.

Less and less meat on our plates, really? More and more French people say in any case to have reviewed their eating habits in this direction in a barometer published this Tuesday by the Climate Action Network (RAC), a federation of environmental NGOs, with the Harris Interactive polling institute. 57% of French people say they have reduced their meat consumption in the last three years and 39% want to do so in the next three. In both cases, this is nine points more than the first edition of the barometer, in 2021.

Eating better and less meat is at the heart of animal welfare issues but also of the ecological transition, while the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates livestock farming to be responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.


Inflation pushing consumption down

However, meat consumption still decreases quite little in the actual practices of the French. "It peaked in the late 1990s and then declined in a proven way between 1990 and 2012," says Benoît Grarnier, food manager at the RAC. But, since then, it does not decrease or very little. The figures vary from one source to another but we are around 100 grams per day and per French, still about twice as much as the generation of our grandparents and twice as much as what it would take to have a healthy and sustainable diet. »

Nevertheless, the approach of consuming less meat is more and more in people's minds, consoles the RAC based on the results of the barometer. For 53% of respondents, this reduction they have initiated or say they want to make, is primarily intended to save money in the current context of inflation. This concern thus tops the list of reasons given, taking precedence over health. But ecological considerations are also climbing the rankings. 45% of respondents cite this argument as one of the reasons that pushed them to change their eating habits. That's six points more than in 2021.

Eating meat every day, a precept that has lead in the wing

In addition, only a minority (41%) consider that meat should be eaten every day. At the same time, alternatives are gradually asserting themselves. To compensate for the contribution of nutrients from meat, the French would prefer pulses and legumes (80%) [which is not verified to date on plates], cereals and seeds (78%), and minimally processed foods that come from them, according to this barometer. On the other hand, the consumption of seaweed (41%), synthetic meats (26%) and insects (21%) are solutions that are still little considered for the moment.

So much for dietary evolutions. "This barometer also sought to test the opinion of the French on a number of measures that the public authorities could take to encourage less meat consumption," continues Benoît Granier. Among these, vegetarian menus in collective catering. The Climate and Resilience Act of August 2021 made it mandatory to propose a vegetarian menu in school canteens, from kindergarten to high school. "It also gives them the opportunity to offer a daily vegetarian option or two vegetarian meals per week where only one menu can be offered," says the RAC food manager. But the government is not pushing in this direction at all, so few canteens have been so far to date. However, mandating this daily vegetarian option was a flagship measure of the Citizens' Climate Convention. "And, according to our barometer, 81% of French people are in favor of it," says Benoît Granier.

Political events not to be missed

The subject could return to the table of the National Assembly next Thursday when ecological deputies want to take advantage of their parliamentary niche to push a bill "Eat better", one of the articles of which would return to the principle of a daily vegetarian menu in canteens. "But the presidential majority withdrew it during the examination of the bill commission," deplores Benoît Granier who still keeps the hope that amendments of deputies push in the opposite direction next Thursday.

The RAC does not stop at vegetarian meals in school canteens. With 38 other associations, he also signed, this Tuesday, an appeal "for a real National Strategy for Food, Nutrition and Climate". The Climate and Resilience Act, again, has instructed the government to publish its SNANC by July 1st. "It should be discussed in the wake by parliament," says Benoît Granier. This collective lists about twenty measures to ensure that this strategy goes in the direction of a more sustainable and healthier diet in France. "When it comes to meat consumption, the challenge is to go towards less and better," says Benoît Granier. With this in mind, there is a push for a ban on advertising and marketing of unhealthy and unhealthy products, which would include meat products from intensive and unsustainable farming. Again, according to the barometer, 83% of French people say they are in favour.

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