What if every pregnant woman received a free organic basket every week? The measure is not new. It was launched in 2022 in Strasbourg to protect future mothers and their unborn babies from the risks of endocrine disruptors.
The EELV deputy for the first constituency of Bas-Rhin, Sandra Regol, would now like to extend this “green ordinance”. She has tabled a bill to this effect. This measure is “simple, logical, pragmatic, and yet it is only in Strasbourg that we are doing it,” declared the elected official, hoping that her proposal would be supported by a large majority in order to “ expand this system nationally.
This preventive measure, at an estimated cost of around 700 million euros, would be covered by Social Security “but the cost of inaction amounts to billions of euros” for the health system, compared the MP .
Endocrine disruptors are molecules capable of disrupting the hormonal system, causing harmful effects on the reproduction or development of children. “When we are in contact with endocrine disruptors, when we are pregnant or young children, we are more likely to have diabetes, obesity, autistic disorders, hormone-dependent cancers, disorders of the reproduction,” listed Alexandre Feltz, deputy mayor of Strasbourg, responsible for public and environmental health.
A lasting system in Strasbourg
This general practitioner, already at the origin of “sport health on prescription”, led the “green prescription” project which relies on a network of health professionals (general practitioners, gynecologists, midwives) supporting pregnant women of the Alsatian capital. Around 800 women benefited, more than 11,000 baskets were distributed and 80 awareness workshops organized.
Jeanne Barseghian, EELV mayor of Strasbourg, announced on Tuesday that the system would be made permanent from January 2024 with the aim of reaching 1,500 women out of the 3,000 births taking place each year in Strasbourg.
This assistance will vary depending on the family quotient of the household: the least well-off women will be able to benefit from one basket per week for seven months and the most well-off for two months, “minimum duration necessary” to trigger a change in habits, argued the mayor. The overall cost of the system is 655,000 euros.