If food inflation continues to climb, to 15.9% over one year in March, some French people are no longer able to eat properly. This is the alarming finding drawn by the Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (Credoc) in its latest study. At the end of last year, 16% of French people said they could not eat enough. In just five months, this share has jumped by four points.
The French no longer have enough to eat, and are restricting themselves more and more. In 2016, half of consumers still bought all the food they wanted, they are now only a third today. For the Credoc, there is no secret, “the high inflation, in particular on food products, explains at least in part the increase in this form of precariousness. Three-quarters of the people concerned cite the lack of money as the reason for their situation”. The increase in other expenditure items, such as fuel, also led to a restriction in the food item.
A statement shared by distributors, such as Michel-Edouard Leclerc, president of the Leclerc centers, on May 10 on BFM TV: “Good meat today is not sold, it is considered too expensive, fish too.” In addition to food insecurity, there are also other forms of fragility: 52% of people lacking food also impose restrictions on medical care. The Crédoc also highlights that it is the French under 40 who are the most affected, at 24%, against 7% of 60-69 year olds.