Faced with unprecedented inflation since the 1980s, especially in food products, the Rural Families association asked the executive on Wednesday to create a monthly allowance of 65 euros to help low-income households eat healthy. In its annual Price Observatory published this Wednesday, the association points out that, due to inflation, a family of two adults and two children must pay a minimum of 477 euros per month for a healthy diet, that is, buying seasonal products and varied enough. regarding the recommendations of the National Nutrition and Health Plan.
However, according to estimates by Rural Families, this amount is almost 65 euros higher than what families living on the poverty line can afford. Hence the idea, conveyed in a letter to the Minister of Health François Braun, to pay a specific allowance to the most modest households. Its annual cost is estimated at 7,200 million euros, which the association compares with “20,000 million euros spent on treating pathologies that could be avoided” by eating healthier.
Low inflation for healthy products
In a context in which food inflation exceeded 12% in one year in 2022, having a balanced diet also allows you to pay less, emphasizes Rural Families, according to which the increase in the prices of healthy products was limited to 8.3 %.
Among the seven product categories selected, legumes (+3.8%) experienced the lowest inflation and fats (+12.9%) the highest price increases. Cereals and starchy products increased by 11.2%, the price of fruits and vegetables increased by 10.7%.
Inflation caused the minimum amount of the food budget for a family of four to increase by 27 euros in 2022, up to 477 euros per month compared to 450 in 2021. The survey was carried out in four periods (February, April, June and October 2022) in 134 stores by a team of 98 “consumer watchers” in 37 departments. The readings covered 85 daily consumer products.
Source: BFM TV
