France white meat food sovereignty decline, Digi Mart USA News (France): Pork, poultry, rabbit, eggs and foie gras producers are sounding the alarm over France’s position in white meat production. According to the publisher article, the country was once well placed, with self-sufficiency of 97 percent in pork and 95.8 percent in eggs, but production has been eroding steadily.
Christiane Lambert, president of the Federation of Charcuterie and Prepared Food Companies (Fict) and national reference person for white meats, said, “The finding is sad. France is losing ground.” The article states that poultry shows a net deficit, with self-sufficiency of only 67 percent, while consumption driven by snacking and street food is growing faster than the construction of poultry buildings.
France has 94,000 poultry farms, 8,100 pig farms, 3,000 egg farms and 600 rabbit farms. The article reports that heavy regulatory pressure and a lack of investment, combined with an aging farmer population, have led producers to let their production tools age.
Nearly 40 percent of pig farmers are over 55 years old, and the challenge of transmitting farms to the next generation could weigh heavily on France’s white meat sovereignty.
In the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Francis Le Bas, president of the regional interprofession Interp’Aura, summarized the situation: “One pig is produced in the region, two are slaughtered, and almost four are consumed.” The region is France’s leading area for dry curing and has a dense network of specialized and multi-species slaughterhouses. It also has about 2,000 poultry farms, according to Hélène Bompart of the regional poultry interprofession Afivol, who said poultry farming historically developed in the region before expanding to western France.
The regional interprofession says it is not giving up and is focusing on sector attractiveness, reaching secondary school students, and maintaining training in pig production. Le Bas acknowledged, “We have a very big job ahead to make the sector attractive to young people.”
Sovereign conferences launched after the law on food sovereignty and generational renewal quantified national consumption needs. Lambert said France would need to build 220 poultry buildings per year for ten years, and rebuild or modernize 100 pig buildings, 55 waterfowl buildings and 100 rabbit buildings.
Infrastructure beyond farms, including animal feed plants, veterinary services and slaughter facilities, is also needed.
Market imbalances add further pressure. According to the article, 29 percent of French pork parts that French consumers do not eat, such as feet and ears, are exported, while large quantities of ham are imported.
Geopolitical tensions also raise concerns: French foie gras, a regional flagship, could soon face competition from China, which the article says is “two fingers” from surpassing it. Only rabbit appears to have found a balance, between terrines for French consumption and fresh meat exports to North Africa.
