Washed Up
Food labels : watch out for greenwashing
Label Rouge, AOP, AB... Quality labels are proliferating on the food shelves, but they are often far from reality. UFC-Que Choisir, Greenpeace, WWF France and Basic have conducted an investigation.
Théo Bourrieau​
Quality signs, labels and food approaches are supposed to provide consumers with guarantees in terms of product origin, environmental preservation or locality, and should also be exemplary in terms of responsible consumption criteria. Nevertheless, two analyses published today and produced by Greenpeace France, WWF France and BASIC on the one hand, and UFC-Que Choisir on the other hand, show large discrepancies between promises and reality. In order for the labels to really play their role as benchmarks, the three organizations are asking for a revision of the certification conditions (specifications, control requirements, etc.), and for the allocation of public aid to the various labels to be conditional on a real guarantee concerning the environmental and socio-economic impacts.
The organic sector is playing its part
Approaches based on organic farming (AB, Bio Equitable in France, etc.) have the strongest and most proven socio-economic and environmental benefits due to their positive impact on human health, soil quality, water resources, biodiversity and animal welfare. According to Nicolas Girod, spokesperson for the Confédération Paysanne (a french agricultural union), the green label AB (Organic Agriculture) "has the advantage of being quite clear and transparent and of being known to everyone. It promotes organic farming without synthetic products. Sure, he could go even further, but in any case, he's not misleading. "
High Environmental Value, weak and unproven effects
Conversely, the approaches that share the environmental certification base: Agri Confidence, Zero Pesticide Residue and High Environmental Value (HVE) certification, have the weakest and least proven positive effects of the approaches studied. For the HVE approach in particular, while we note a moderate positive impact on soil quality, we note weak and not very proven benefits on human health and environmental criteria (water resources, biodiversity, air quality, climate, etc.). The benefits are not demonstrable as they stand on the other socio-economic criteria (decent standard of living, social cohesion, etc.). For Nicolas Girod, it is nothing less than a "Trojan horse" of greenwashing. He deplores its weak ambitions in terms of ecological transition, its disproportionate recognition by the State and its misleading dimension for the consumer.
For the labels to become real consumer benchmarks
Conversely, the approaches that share the environmental certification base: Agri Confidence, Zero Pesticide Residue and High Environmental Value (HVE) certification, have the weakest and least proven positive effects of the approaches studied. For the HVE approach in particular, while we note a moderate positive impact on soil quality, we note weak and not very proven benefits on human health and environmental criteria (water resources, biodiversity, air quality, climate, etc.). The benefits are not demonstrable as they stand on the other socio-economic criteria (decent standard of living, social cohesion, etc.). For Nicolas Girod, it is nothing less than a "Trojan horse" of greenwashing. He deplores its weak ambitions in terms of ecological transition, its disproportionate recognition by the State and its misleading dimension for the consumer.
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