Food solidarity

The studies follow one another, just like the cries of alarm of the associations. The most modest are feeling the double-digit inflation of energy and food prices. Bread, cheese, fruit, pasta… everything increases. Meat, fish and even oil are increasingly deserting the carts. Rising prices produce cascading effects: those who consumed branded products switch to private labels; those who were used to the mid-range are now picking at the very bottom of the shelves. And as La Croix observed in the Parisian suburbs, some have moved from the supermarket to the nearest social grocery store.

As a result, organic farmers no longer find outlets to support them, and consumers no longer have access to a balanced diet, a guarantee of good health and respectful of the environment. It is a fact that is difficult to accept and yet very real: in our economy of abundance and even of “overabundance”, more and more families depend on food aid.

The ideal would obviously be to dare structural measures: on the consumer side, by establishing a minimum income guaranteeing a varied diet, or concerning producers and distributors, by limiting speculation on certain basic necessities. For the time being, the government has contented itself with dealing with the emergency by negotiating an “anti-inflation quarter” with distributors and announcing the experiment with a “food voucher”.

Until food is no longer considered “a commodity like any other”, as demanded by Secours Catholique and others, solidarity can and must still develop. Let us redouble our vigilance against waste and welcome all those who collect in our supermarkets. At least.

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