After petrol, gas and electricity: leeks. The association of consumers Rural Families, assures that the prices of fruits and vegetables “jumped by 9%” between September 2019 and September 2021. The association which publishes each year an annual observatory of the prices of everyday consumer goods has calculated at how much does it cost to eat in accordance with the recommendations of the national health nutrition plan. For a family of four (two adults, a teenager and a child) the overall monthly budget ranges from 450 euros (varying the products less, but respecting the diversity of categories and seasonality) to 1,148 euros for a “follower” family. organic”.
With such an increase in 2 years, “it is not surprising to see some consumers turning away from it, especially those with small budgets”, regrets Rural families, which calls for the establishment of a “fruit and vegetable check” in 2022, “so as not to divert families with the most modest budgets from these healthy foods”.
50% more expensive overseas
In general, “Rural Families calls on public authorities to develop a much more ambitious policy promoting healthy eating by allowing everyone to have access to it”. She believes that “investing in a nutritional program combining prevention and help for the most precarious is the key to curbing the development of too many pathologies linked to the consumption of products that are too fatty, too sweet, too salty in too large quantities”.
The association also notes “the substantial price difference between the same shopping basket acquired in metropolitan France and that purchased in Overseas”, price statements having been made on the same products as those carried out in metropolitan France in Reunion. , in Mayotte, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Verdict: “the same basket of products there costs close to 50% more expensive than in mainland France “.
The Rural Families survey was carried out over four periods, February, April, June and October 2021 in 148 stores (hypermarkets, supermarkets, predominantly own-brand brands such as hard-discounts, organic specialists), by a team of 107 “monitors consumption” in 37 departments.