In Normandy, these organic farmers rely on communal nutrition to restore their health

“We cannot be the only ones funding the agroecological transition! “This is the cry from the heart made by Stephanie Martens on Monday, February 19, to local elected officials and managers who came to meet with organic farmers at the Mezanger farm in Sainte-Marie d’Atthez, in the south of Ayr. A vegetable gardener and co-president of Bio en Normandie, which brings together 400 organic farmers out of about 3,000 identified in Normandy, the spokesman condemned the “lack of public will” and deplored the “poor structuring of the sectors.”

The “Franco-French” situation, which she says explains the crisis that organic agriculture is experiencing post-Covid, when in Germany, Austria or Italy consumption “started to rise again from the second half of 2022.” The National Federation of Organic Agriculture (FNAB) called on farmers to gather on Wednesday 7 February in front of the Palais de Bourbon. Deploring the “abandonment” of organic products in Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s statements in response to the January agricultural demonstrations, FNAB is demanding €271 million in aid to compensate for losses in the organic sector estimated at €550 million. two years, down from 50 million announced by the government at the end of January.

The sector also calls for “maintaining environmental standards, but with controls aimed more at support than at sanctions,” recalls Bio en Normandie co-president Stephanie Martens. Finally, to better promote the environmental practices of organic producers, FNAB requires a remuneration for environmental and health services provided in the amount of 145 euros per hectare per year. “Today I earn 700 euros a year, which is the equivalent of a full tank of my harvester,” recalls Romain Wittrich, a grain farmer on the 115-hectare Mezanger farm, whose fields are bordered by newly planted hedges.

He was born in the Parisian region and settled in 2019 at the Mezanger farm, taking over the management of the grain farm that Yves Vanhoeck converted to organic farming more than 20 years ago. “We worked on preparing for this transition for 8 years, at a time in 2015-2016 when there was good momentum around organics,” Romain says. Before noting: “I belong to the generation that will renew farms, but today there are many producers around me, albeit convinced of organic farming, who are thinking about returning to traditional agriculture.” In addition to working on the farm, he also continued to work full time due to lack of sufficient remuneration. The reason is the fall in prices for organic farming by almost 40%, resulting in a ton of grain reaching a level close to the regular price, but with yields two to three times lower in organic farming.

In his opinion, as for many organic producers, the market situation has stalled. Despite the implementation of EGalim, which requires collective catering to have a minimum of 20% organic products among 50% organic and quality products, the first declarations received at ma-cantine.agricultural.gouv.fr show that canteens are significantly below the expected requirements. in the Eure department alone, “17% of canteens are EGalim compliant and 3% are organic.” “We will have more accurate figures by March 31,” promises the prefect of Era, Simon Babre, who admits that “a huge amount of educational work” still needs to be done.

As for producers, the marketing problem is not with the prices of organic products, but with their use. “80% of organic food is thrown into the trash due to a lack of strategy,” complains the mayor of Sainte-Marie-d’Atthez, Patrick Brough. The culinary education of children, as well as chefs, who suddenly have to deal with foods that they are not necessarily used to, is in question. “There should be no violence, the cook is in charge,” assures Patrick Breaux. “We’re rushing people because we’re putting them in a difficult position when they don’t have the tools” to handle organic produce.

A few kilometers away, Benoit Dorchy raises pigs and poultry at the organic farm Lear. He has been involved in collective catering for several years, often bypassing tenders that are sometimes considered impossible if they are based on poor criteria. “It’s hard to get into congregate dining, but once you’re there, as long as you don’t change people, it works,” he says. He decided to work with meat packages. “When a dining establishment orders chipo from me, I offer the rest of my animal to my customers for direct sale,” he explains. A process “that takes time,” admits the breeder, whose parents are approaching retirement age.

Due to a lack of vegetable factories, intermediate processing facilities such as those for making pasta from local grains, or the lack of space needed to process cereals or store meat in kitchens, canteens find themselves too limited. “And when we have 100% organic days, it’s a mistake because we can’t get food from here,” admits Stephanie Martens. “Providing 20% ​​organic food in canteens cannot be achieved by snapping your fingers,” emphasizes Frédéric Goy, director of the Biocer cooperative. Struggling financially, the grain co-op was almost taken over by a large agri-food group before deciding at the last minute to remain independent. But there are no bills and to meet the demand for school meals, Bioser must invest, convinced that there is a way out of the crisis for organic farming. “If we could find food on our schoolchildren’s plates that travels miles away, we would achieve our goals.”