Europe's farmers are struggling
BOUSSY-SAINT-ANTOINE, FRANCE >> Truck driver Jeremy Donf understands French farmers are struggling and he wants to support local food producers. But like many consumers, buying French produced food isn't always an option.
Farmer protests across Europe this week have highlighted how farmers and households are both hurting these days because of multiple factors, including persistent inflation, high interest rates and volatile energy prices.
“We understand their anger because we value farmers. What are we going to do if they are not here? We won't eat. Such protests are important,” Donf said.
But as he weighed Spanish-grown lemons in his suburban Paris supermarket, Donf noted that most of the produce around him was imported. And when French-grown food is available, not everyone can afford it. In a Paris market this week, Moroccan clementines and Polish mushrooms cost about half the price of their French counterparts.
The farmer protests drew widespread public support in France, even from truckers like Donf whose livelihood was threatened by the highway blockades that were part of the protests. Donf lives in the Paris suburb of Boussy-Saint-Antoine but comes from the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, where farming is important and many people buy directly from local farmers.
Governments including France, Spain and Greece agreed in recent days to pump hundreds of millions of euros into the farming sector to calm the protesters. The EU also granted concessions to farmers, sensitive to voter concerns ahead of European Parliament elections in June.
At a nearby farmers' market this week, several shoppers specifically chose more expensive French meat and vegetables over cheaper imports, in part spurred by the recent protests.
“I am well aware that it's not easy for some people to spend more money on food, but since my pension allows me to do it, I decided to favor high-quality (French) products,” said Patrick Jobard, a retiree.
Prices for wheat, corn and other grain — except rice — are lower than they were before Russia's invasion of Ukraine drove global food commodity costs to record highs in 2022, which worsened hunger worldwide but helped farmers' bottom lines.
Consumers, meanwhile, aren't seeing big benefits from lower prices for wheat and other food commodities traded on global markets because the price surge that's been seen at the grocery store is tied to other costs after food leaves the farm, said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Things like energy costs and higher wages for labor have been “affecting every step of food processing, all the way to the retail shelves,” he said.
With prices having fallen, farmers are getting less for what they grow than they used to and are facing uncertainty from volatile energy prices.
That's especially hard for farmers in Europe, because of the loss of inexpensive Russian natural gas and trade disruption as Yemen's Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea, he said.