This Thursday, February 20, 2025, the National Assembly will examine a bill which aims to experiment with a “social security of food”. The idea of this project led by several associations since 2019 is to guarantee fair access to healthy food.
Today, junk food is a real scourge. If consumers are strongly encouraged to eat better, to buy organic and/or products locally, it usually increases the price of the shopping cart. Not everyone can afford to eat well. According to Crédo, one in six people suffers from food precariousness in France.
It is for this reason that several elected officials work on this “social security of food” project. To put it simply, each Frenchman would receive 150 euros per month to eat healthier.
150 €/month to eat better?
This “social security of food” project is based on three fundamental pillars: universal aid, united funding (via contributions) and a strict agreement. As is already the case for social security, only certain products will be eligible. To be able to buy foodstuffs, the latter will have to meet several social and ecological criteria. Out of the question, therefore, to buy your Kellogg’s treasure cereals or a Nutella jar with this “food card”.
In addition to allowing the French to eat healthier, this project aims to reduce the health costs related to junk food. Each year, the sum of 18.6 billion euros is allocated to diabetes or obesity. That’s not all. The idea is also to stimulate the local economy and strengthen short circuits, which should delight farmers and other “small” producers.
This examination of the National Assembly is not intended to impose this project but to finance experiments here and there. Tests have already been carried out in Bordeaux to students and Montpellier. In these two cases, the beneficiaries contributed to receive 100 euros per month. The verdict is final: people eat healthier and feel better.
But it is the question of funding that hovers above this project. While the budget for social security amounts to 666 billion euros in 2025, this “social food security” project would require 120 billion euros per year. It is therefore for the moment a utopia but the idea is making its way …
