Fruits and vegetables: the French are still not at the required level of consumption - France 24

Paris (AFP)

The French still do not reach the level recommended for consumption of fruits and vegetables by public health authorities despite recent constant progress, the interprofession of fruits and vegetables said on Tuesday.

"A third of adults respect the national health nutrition program" of 2001, which recommends consuming "at least five fruits and vegetables per day", that is to say between 400 and 500 grams daily, indicated Laurent Grandin, president of the French interprofession of fruits and vegetables, Interfel, in front of the press Tuesday.

Consumption per day and per adult has "increased significantly between 2010 and 2020", praised Mr. Grandin, standing at some 323 grams of fresh fruits and vegetables, and 365 grams if we add the canned according to the Credoc, below the European average, he said.

"It remains insufficient in relation to the health objectives", he said, "there is still room for improvement".

Particularly in socially disadvantaged populations, where the prevalence rate of obesity is "1.5 times higher than that of the general population", underlined Christel Teyssedre, president of Aprifel, the agency for research and development. information on fruits and vegetables, itself a first in Prayssac in the Lot.

To revive the plant craze in all strata of society, Interfel calls on the public authorities to a ten-year recovery plan, and is counting on various operations this year, declared the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables by the United Nations Agency for agriculture and food (FAO).

The interprofession supports in particular - and for several years - the proposal to create a "food check" that the government recently adopted to deal with the social crisis generated by the health crisis.

"We want a citizen and collective commitment around fruits and vegetables to finally reach the objectives", he said, underlining the surge of productions respecting the HVE standard (high environmental value) supported by the public authorities.

In 2020 alone, the health crisis and the closure of restaurants led to a "historic increase" in fruit and vegetable purchases, estimated at around 4.5% compared to 2019, he said.

But last year, prices also increased on average by 13%, as a result of disorganization of supply chains, as well as climatic hazards in the second half of the year, where French apricot production fell by 30%, for example. , while that of apples and pears fell to 1.3 million tonnes against 1.5 in normal times.

© 2021 AFP