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Sixty-five euros is the sum missing from the purses of the poorest French people to be able to follow the recommendations of the National Health Nutrition Plan. Focus on the results of this survey by the Rural Families association.
It is a dramatic number. According to the Rural Families Association, the 9 million most precarious French people would lack 65 euros for them to be able to feed themselves properly. In other words, to be able to consume five fruits and vegetables a day, the dose recommended by the National Health Nutrition Plan (PNNS).
Billions of euros could be saved
The Rural Families Association is sounding the alarm. Its Observatory of consumer prices reveals that it would be enough to add 65 euros to the monthly budget of families living at the level of the poverty line to respect the National Health Nutrition Plan (PNNS).
As a reminder, in France, the poverty line is set at 60% of the French median income, which was €1837/month for a single person in 2019. It is therefore considered that a person is poor if their income is below €1102. € per month.
Reported to the year, these 65 euros per month represent “7.2 billion euros per year“, notes the association.
A very paltry sum compared to the 20 billion euros spent on “treat pathologies, induced by poor diet, that could be avoided“.
NO to diets, YES to WW!
Exponential inflation of food products
Another notable finding of the study: the prices of food products, which continue to soar, impact small budgets.
Between October 2021 and October 2022, food products thus increased by 12%, according to INSEE. Same thing for healthy products (+ 8.3%) and legumes (+ 3.8%).
Overseas, the situation is even more worrying: the same basket of products costs almost 50% more than in France.
At the same time, the association reveals that the average monthly price of a “varied” basket for a family of 4 is €734 for the first prices, €814 for national brands and €1,179 for organic.
“This score drops to €477 when the products are varied less while respecting the PNNS and the cycle of the seasons.“, specifies the association.
To deal with this emergency situation, Rural Families offers, in addition to the monthly allowance of 65 euros for low-income households, “to involve health professionals more“so that they support parents in their educational role concerning food, or else”to ban advertisements aimed at children promoting products that are too fatty, too sweet and too salty“.
A recent study reported that taxes on sodas had a direct impact in reducing obesity, particularly among young girls from the most precarious families.