He stares at the shelf for half a second only before grabbing a jar of Panzani tomato sauce. Thomas Scharwatt, a student in Strasbourg, is doing his weekly grocery shopping at one of the biggest retailers in France: Leclerc. As he reaches the organic food section, he sounds surprised “they have pasta sauce here again!” But his cart already has the well-known brand. He is fast, knows where to go, which products he wants. Next time, maybe. Although still a niche in slow progress, organic food consumption in France is not the main issue. Rather, the production is. The latest statistics by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), show that in 2013, only 3.9% of the agricultural land was dedicated to organic in France, leaving the country at the 18th position in the European Union. In Sweden, it was 16.3% and the EU leader, Austria, had 19.5% dedicated to organic production. So why is France behind? More and more research shows the positive aspects of organic farming. According to Journal de l’Environnement, the latest report published in June 2015 by the General Commission for Sustainable Development, states that Nord-Pas-de-Calais, an agricultural region largely affected by water pollution, should look into organic transition in order to preserve water and climate. At the same time, La France Agricole reported that the Minister of Agriculture, Stéphane Le Foll, promised in the Senate a wide study to accurately look into the costs of the transition to organic farming – including the impacts of conventional farming and the benefits of organic farming on the environment. Although there is already numerous research presenting with these advantages, the government efforts to stimulate the production of organic food remain little fruitful. At the Grenelle de l’Environnement 2007, a forum where politicians meet to discuss environmental issues, the goal was set to triple the share of organic agricultural land by 2010 to meet 6%. It only reached 3% and five years later the target is still far from reached, 4% have not even been attained. According to the IFOAM, Sweden, in comparison, set a goal of 20% by 2014 in 2006 when it only had 7.06% and the country reached 16.3% of organic land in 2013. The new goal is to grow to 20% of the agricultural land in 2020, but is that achievable under today’s conditions? A diverse country with difficulties converting to organic One of the reasons why France’s organic development is slow is because of the diversity of its regions and their crop or livestock. “Some productions are easier to convert to organic, because they are less intensive,” explains Thomas Poméon, a researcher at INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. “For example, grassland farms in the Austrian Alps are massively converted to organic, leading to a high percentage of organic land in this country, but the cereal plains remain very conventional.” Indeed, according to the evaluation of Government’s ‘plan of development of organic agriculture 2008-2012’ carried by three main institutions and published in 2013; one third of the organic land is concentrated in three regions: Midi-Pyrénées, Pays-de-la-Loire and Languedoc-Roussillon. For the year 2014, Agence Bio reported that half of the organic land was concentrated in 5 regions, adding Rhône Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur to the list. All five are southern regions. “We need both methods. Organic agriculture won’t be fit for all French territories and there are some productions that cannot be organic. Sugar beets for instance can’t be processed in conformity with organic technical specifications,” affirms Philippe Guichard, an involved organic grain farmer. Active member of the union in his region, representing farmers at the Ministry of Agriculture and ITAB (Technical Institute for Organic Agriculture); he was employed in a conventional farm before starting organic with his wife, 20 years ago, after he fell sick from pesticides. While the workload is heavier in organic farming (OF), the added value allows having more people working on the farm – which explains why most of them are human scale farms. “It is creating more jobs,” affirms Jouny, “We are two for 59 hectares producing 300 000 liters of milk. I know people who work alone on a huge farm producing 400 000 liters.” Besides the costs, it is also a change in approach and technique: a different know-how. “You have to be a stockbreeder, look after your animals, and observe nature. I was already sensitized to the environment issue and didn’t like where the conventional production was heading. They want more, all the time.” Jouny goes on detailing his choice of cows and techniques. Not all farmers are ready to make that change, especially those from the old school or with a high yield. Moreover, there is still a mentality of organic being marginal. In the 2013 report on the government’s development plan, the authors mention that some organic farmers and food processing companies do not get certified by fear of being critiqued. A mindset for productivity backed by the government “I’m part of a generation that likes performance. I would rather have a cow producing 10 000 liters of milk than two producing 5 000 each. It is more profitable,” says Dominique Berthaud, a traditional milk producer in Loire-Atlantique. This mindset is the one of a vast majority in the industry. French farms and government have a long history of aiming at productivity, which originated especially in the green revolution during the 50s, after the Second World War. It was then necessary to produce a lot to feed a large population. Nowadays, performance also comprises more quality. “We get regular trainings on phytosanitary and fertilizer use. Today, they are more sensitized to the environment. We can’t put as much fertilizer, while when I was young we didn’t really care. It is also more expensive than 20 years ago.” What the traditional industry often fails to admit however, is that organic farming has overall just as much yields or just under that of conventional. While organic requires more work, time and investment beforehand; what is not said about conventional is the costs of cleaning up water of chemical residue are also high in the aftermath – which the upcoming study promised by Le Foll will highlight. With a strong push of phytosanitary industries “They say the government wants to decrease the use of phytosanitary products. The plan has been on for more than 4 years, yet the use has increased. Lobbies are better armed than the state to sell the products,” Jouny, the organic milk producer, tempers. Although government projects -such as ‘Ecophyto’ after the Grenelle de l’environnement 2008 - aimed at reducing the use of pesticides, France is still one of the biggest consumers in the world. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the use was still increasing in 2013, by 5% compared to 2009 and by nearly 10% compared to 2012, because of harsh climatic conditions in 2013. Moreover, phyto-sanitary companies, concerned with plant diseases and health, are still strong lobbies. This might influence farmers associations: farmers who have been trained on conventional techniques are easily convinced of the use of chemical products for a better yield. But that is also true for higher authorities. “I use natural substances to treat my wheat. But the lobbies of agricultural chemistry will do everything to hinder or even stop the recognition of this natural treatment as a basic substance and thus block the process to bringing them on the market. So I use illegal substances,” Guichard says. Little subsidies for organic farming “The government has a very ambiguous position on organic farming,” says Patrick Garnon, regional councilor for the Green Party EELV (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts). “On one hand they affirm their support towards an ‘agro-ecological’ evolution, and on the other they maintain a conservative approach favoring conventional farming on the grounds of competitiveness.” According to Guichard, that is not just the government. “Politicians, even among EELV, are divided. Some have bold stances, others more timid. It is difficult for them to handle incompatible opinions with care.” Indeed, Agence Bio’s numbers show that conventional farming still represents the majority of farmers: 95.4% of them and they are significantly represented by the main union, FNSEA. In 2015-2020, France will receive 7.5 billion euros per year from the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), of which it is the main recipient. There are several initiatives to encourage environment-friendly approaches, like the green payment and help to agro-environmental and climatic measures (MAEC) which total up to about 34% of the fund distributed each year. However, only 160 million per year will be allocated to organic farmers, which represent only 2.14% of the fund, divided between those who are already established and those in conversion. And the farmers cannot double this up with MAEC or green payment. “Aids are generally too weak to overcome technical, economic and social barriers. They are helpful, but they do not offset the risks and losses created especially during the transition period,” explains Poméon. “If we compare to the aid the conventional receive, we cannot say there is a significant effort towards organic farming.” Organic consumption, still a niche “If the price was the same between normal and organic, I would buy the normal one. I don’t know why,” says Thomas Scharwatt, staring at the tomato sauce. Just the fact that this Master’s student calls it “normal” reveals his mindset. For the majority of French people, organic is not “normal.” In fact, only 10% consume organically at least once a day, according to Agence Bio. Although that number is increasing, it still suggests that only a small portion of the population have adopted a different way of buying food. “It is very constraining,” says Bruno Lemoine, an all-or-almost-all-organic client. “I can’t find organic rabbit for instance. And there is much less diversity.” Organic is still more expensive, and that keeps people from buying, according to the MarketLine industry profile of France. In fact UFC-Que Choisir consumer association found that in average, people spend 57% more on organic products. “I’m under the impression that when we talk about organic food, it’s for old grannies or bobos that are trying to have a good conscience. But in the end, you pay more for the same thing,” claims Thomas, a bit amused but with a hint of discourage in his voice. Evidence is the many organic specialized shops, like Biocoop or Naturalia, where regular customers go to. They already know they want organic. However, most of the sales in the organic market are made through supermarkets. “It is more convenient,” Bruno explains, “I go to the supermarket once a week. But I need to be well organized if I don’t want to waste. If I don’t eat my salad today, it will be bad tomorrow.” However, the MarketLine study explains that organic is just a small portion of retailers’ turnover: 2.5% of the food market is organic according to Agence Bio. “We are trying to avoid it because consumers don’t see our products in the supermarkets; they blend in with the crowd,” says Jouny, a bit annoyed. In the chocolate section, Thomas does not see organic right away. “There’s a lot of purple here.” Milka chocolate is everywhere. He picks a tablet, then two, and puts it in his cart. “It’s more diverse. In organic there is only almond or dark chocolate.” He is looking at ‘fair trade chocolate’. Like him, a lot of consumers are confused among the many quality labels, a study from FiBL & IOFAM found. Mentalities are slowly changing It is not all dark. The market is expanding: Agence Bio noted almost 20% of increase between 2012 and 2014. More specifically, they observed a growth of 10% in the households’ consumption and of 11% in institutional and school catering. The latter has been promoted by the government in the “Plan Ambition Bio 2017,” that aims to have at least 20% of organic food in schools and collective restaurants. Jouny says that supermarkets are changing their approach too: “The U-group for example prioritizes local producers.” Carrefour also sets up promotional tools in the stores, for instance placing organic fruits and vegetables right next to the traditional ones, and not in a separate section; or offering a 10% discount on all organic goods every Tuesday. All those products are under the Carrefour brand – but whether this is motivated by profit or conviction, it gives more visibility to organic products. Although very slowly, the number of organic producers is increasing, with 26 466 organic farmers registered by the end of 2014, which represents about 5.6% of the total number of farms according to Agence Bio. An increase by 4% compared to 2013. “20 years ago, there were almost no producers in the region. Now children of farmers take over or start on their own and they say ‘we are going organic!’ It was weird for the parents,” Berthaud, the traditional milk producer, is enthusiastic: “they learn new techniques; they are more sensitized to organic farming.” As explained in the evaluation on the government’s plan to develop OF, the movement came from private people and the regulations followed. Originally, the organic movement arose next to conventional agriculture, or against it, in reaction to the evolution towards more production based on a lot of chemical help. In 1985 the “AB” label was developed to recognize those farmers who had more natural approaches. Farmers’ initiatives are still flourishing here and there. “Some years ago, producers in the Center of France called us because they could not get their milk collected. It was too expensive. We went there, it cost us a lot of money. More producers converted to organic then, and we are a major organization for the collection of organic milk” Jouny says, satisfied. While everybody agrees to say that the government should put more effort into it, Jouny has one more comment to balance this. “Producers should also start to get their act together. It is always on the processing companies or the government. But the movement has to come from producers. If it is strong and constructed, no matter left or right wing politics, there will be support,” he insits. “I personally don’t feel ready. I am not saying that I won’t be one day,” Berthaud hesitates. But: when? Amélie Drouet is a French journalist working with online media, and currently based in Hamburg, Germany. You can read other pieces or contact her through LinkedIn.
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