2024-04-21 04:31:00
the essential Former research director at Inrae, originally from Tarn et Garonne, nutritionist Christian Rémésy has just published together with Thierry Souccar the editions “Let’s save our food: at the citizens’ table”, a fascinating reflection on our political food choices and on the need for “nutriecology” . Interview
In 180 pages of a powerful story, you tell the story of human food to show how the rise of agro-industry has led to disaster for both the consumer and the farmer. How did you go from researcher to whistleblower?
My parents were farmers near Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val and I grew up on the farm. After studying natural sciences in Toulouse, I joined the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Inrae) in Clermont-Ferrand where I ended up as research director, specialist in nutrition. So I witnessed an unprecedented change in human history. Agriculture stopped producing unprocessed or minimally processed food distributed through local markets and began instead to produce raw materials for industry. The latter made it overly or poorly processed food. Result? This has thrown the entire human nutrition out of balance. And the problem is that with the complicity of mass distribution, the food industry has taken control of our food.
“Over-processed food deprives the gut microbiota of the fibers and plant components it absolutely needs PC – Pierre Challier
But you explain that she doesn’t feed her husband, so to speak…
Throughout human history, hunting and gathering shaped our digestive system, and around 10,000 years ago the appearance of agriculture and breeding ensured the supply of plant and animal calories, thanks to a new availability of natural foods. For millennia, the gut microbiota of Homo sapiens has played a crucial role in human survival. In particular, it allowed him to eat low-energy plant products. However, this microbiota – which plays a key role in our health, as scientists have shown – was shaped by the diversity of natural foods made up of complex plant matrices, from grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits, seeds and various plants. Conversely, a high consumption of overly processed food deprives it of the fiber and plant components that it absolutely needs, and it disrupts the eating behavior of our contemporaries… One billion people suffering from obesity worldwide, not to mention diabetes, cardiovascular disease : humanity is learning the hard way that we don’t just put “fuel” in an engine, especially in our bodies, that it is better to use virgin oils than refined, coarse flour that is too white. In 50 years the human phenotype has actually changed more than in previous millennia and it is therefore now a question of protecting our children as well.
A powerful story. DR – DR
What do you recommend to get away from today’s logic?
The need to eat with real food should appeal to everyone and that is why I offer a “citizen’s menu”, simple, accessible to everyone and respecting daily needs to reduce the proportion of unnecessary processed food. A “common sense” citizen’s menu, with its raw vegetables, vegetables, starchy foods, animal products and otherwise societal. Because what’s good for your health is also good for agricultural income, this quality production means returning to mixed-culture farms on a human scale, close to the customer. Changing your food purchasing habits should therefore enable the emergence of a nutritional ecology that will benefit consumers as much as farmers or the environment.
« Let’s save our food ». Oath. Thierry Souccar, 192 pages, €15.
1713674239
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