The French government has officially adopted a Future Food Law that has a bearing on the future of farming, food and forestry, aiming to drive a change towards 'agroecology' and make food and farming greener in the long term.

image expired

Passed by the French Assembly in September, the law complements France's public food policy. The new legislation was entered into the official journal on Tuesday (14^th October). The 'Law for the Future' has four pillars, which aim to:

• Make agricultural supply chains more competitive;
• Drive the adoption of agro-ecological solutions;
• Focus on educating young people about food;
• And rekindle debate about agriculture's place in society.

France's government has said the law will translate into "Major advances for farmers and citizens." The fourth pillar has a focus on social justice – with the eventual aim of ensuring French people have access to sufficient safe and healthy food. The government has also said efforts will be undertaken to tackle food waste and bridge the gap between producers and consumers, partially through encouraging promotion of local products.  

Environment minister Stephane LeFoll, who championed the bill, welcomed the passing of the law on Tuesday. LeFoll was supported by ministers in related areas, including health, justice and education in promoting the bill.

The Law for the Future received the backing of the entire French left represented in Parliament (the ruling Socialist Party, Left Front, environmentalists and radical left). Only the UMP, Right-wing party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, voted against the bill last month.

The main innovative aspect of the law will be the creation of 'Economic and Environmental Interest Groups', or GIEEs; these will be groups of farmers, tasked with developing agroecological projects, who will benefit from state funding to support their work. The French government has posited that between 10 and 12 thousand farmers could be involved in the GIEEs.

Other key parts of the new package include moves to reduce the use of antibiotics in agriculture, protect agricultural land from land-use change and stricter rules governing crop spraying (including dates and timetables for spraying and restricted zones near schools and healthcare facilities).

France's main farm union the FNSEA has reacted strongly to the rules on pesticide spraying, which come after the government banned crop spraying during daylight hours earlier this year. The ban was introduced in a bid to protect bees.

Another controversial aspect of the law is the legalisation (for one year only) of wolf culling, which will be allowed if it is judged that the animals – which only returned to France in the early 1990s – have caused too much damage to "pastoral activities".

Environment minister LeFoll said the first GIEEs should be formed from the beginning of next year, and invited groups to prepare their project applications. Selection of GIEEs will be based on "the prominence of the agroecological dimensions of their pitches".

Read more from the French government (in English) here