Should food aid exclude junk food?

Helping the most needy to fill their plates is an idea that makes sense. But wouldn’t it be even better if it were an opportunity to encourage people to eat better, that is to say local and organic? The question arises, as the government has promised emergency aid to 9 million low-income households and students, which should be paid in September. The origin of this initiative was the “food voucher” proposed by the Citizen’s Climate Convention in 2020, and thought “for the poorest to use in the Amap [Association pour le maintien d’une agriculture paysanne] or for organic products.

The idea had been welcomed by the Head of State, the Climate and Resilience Law of 2021 even providing for the submission of two government reports on its implementation. The ace ! The measure continues to be postponed, while candidate Macron has made it one of his campaign promises, before opting for inflation compensation stripped of any reference to organic… and even to food. It must be said that for the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, the device is “complicated to implement”. What, in fact, is food ” quality “ and junk food? And what institution can decide? The government ensures that it will work, in the future, on a “helps to eat better”but this already divides environmentalists and large agricultural unions, the latter defending, as often,