Food Policy in France

Perspectives for Fighting and Preventing Food Poverty

Abstract

This article examines the principles, content and development of food policy in France. First, relevant literature published by the National Food Council, such as policy propositions, was analysed to identify its socio-political background. It was found that the National Food Programme was developed in 2010 as a new policy category to respond to increasing food anxiety and a nutrition-centred tendency in dietary lives, namely, the radicalization of ‘food modernity’. Second, food policy development since 2010 has as its official objective a philosophy combining ‘eating well’ (bien manger) and ‘food security’. To achieve the goal of eating well, French food policy has promoted a wide range of measures – including food poverty, food education, food environment, food cultures and sustainability – in addition to the traditional objective of ensuring food availability and safety. Third, further analysis of food poverty prevention measures proved that their scope has moved beyond typical food aids for the vulnerable to achieve the target of eating well. More than 10 years of experience in France informs us that food policy, through its implementation and social debate, challenges the traditional private–public boundary in dietary lives and encourages the reinvention of the ‘food political’.