As a result of the economic difficulties and the high prices in the shopping cart, Italians have cut the purchases of fruit and vegetables which in 2022 drop by 11% in quantity compared to last year, on minimum values since the beginning of the century. This is what emerges from an analysis by Coldiretti based on Cso Italy / Gfk Italia data according to which household fruit consumption in the first half of 2022 stood at 2.6 million tons in quantity.
The Italians – underlines Coldiretti – have reduced the quantities of courgettes purchased by 16%, tomatoes by 12%, potatoes by 9%, carrots by 7% and salads by 4%, while for fruit there is even a 8% drop for purchases of oranges, unanimously considered an elixir of life.
A cut – argues Coldiretti – destined over time to have an impact also on health if we consider that the minimum threshold of fresh fruit and vegetables to be eaten several times a day is 400 grams per person, recommended by the Council of the World Organization of Health (WHO) for a healthy diet.
To weigh was the increase in prices which have risen at retail prices for vegetables by 12.2% and for fruit by 8.5% even if in the countryside values are recognized that do not always cover production costs with crops decimated by hail and drought, according to Coldiretti analysis on Istat data in July.
The farewell of a basic element of the Mediterranean diet is not the only element of concern if we consider that in reality the entire shopping cart of Italians is empty, who have cut overall by 3% the quantities of food products purchased compared to the last one. year, based on Coldiretti analysis on Istat data relating to retail trade in the first half of 2022.
Italians – underlines Coldiretti – are forced to spend more to buy fewer products due to the effect of prices that have recorded an overall record increase of + 9.6% for fresh and processed products in July 2022 compared to the same period. of the previous year. The increase in prices triggered by the explosive mix of the rise in energy costs and crop cuts due to the climate will cost Italian families almost 9 billion euros in 2022 for food spending alone, according to Coldiretti’s analysis of Istat data.
A situation destined to have an impact on the weakest families who allocate a significant portion of their income to food but there are also over 2.6 million people who are forced to ask for help to eat and represent – states Coldiretti – the tip of the iceberg of the difficulties faced by an increasing number of families due to inflation driven by the shopping cart for energy and food costs.
If prices for families run the increase in costs and drought hit the entire agri-food chain hard, starting from the countryside where – continues Coldiretti – more than 1 farm out of 10 (11%) is in such a critical situation as to lead to the cessation of the activity but well about 1/3 of the national total (30%) is in any case forced at this moment to work in a condition of negative income due to the increase in production costs, according to Crea. In agriculture in fact – Coldiretti specifies – cost increases ranging from + 170% for fertilizers to + 90% for feed to + 129% for diesel.
“We must intervene to contain the expensive energy and production costs with immediate interventions to save companies and stables and structural measures to plan the future” says the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini, underlining that “it is necessary to work for supply chain agreements between agricultural and industrial companies with precise qualitative and quantitative objectives and fair prices that never fall below production costs as required by the new law to combat unfair practices and speculation “.
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