The pattern is similar to what Belgium did in order to curb potato waste.
The French have been encouraged to eat more cheese as farmers say sales have slumped due to citizens not buying usual amounts as they would have prior to coronavirus quarantine.
Cheese sales have slumped in the country 60% according to Michel Lacoste, the president of the National Council of Appellations of Dairy Origin (CNAOL), who told CNN the figures last week.
"They changed their habits and turned to basic necessities," Lacoste said, leaving the industry facing a "huge loss."
Now, Lacoste is urging citizens to please eat more cheese.
"We farmers, producers, we were not confined. We didn't stop working. We worked every day," he said. "So eat cheese, make a fair trade act to maintain the French culture, the French tradition, the French heritage, that we all share."
Experts in France also fear waste of products which have already been made.
"A massive overstocking of 2,000 tons of cheeses of certified quality and origin was therefore instantly created," CNAOL added. "Beyond the risk of causing immense waste, the sustainability of a sector is at stake and this could have major consequences for rural areas, for which this sector is often the only economic activity to be expected."
Since the outbreak began, there have been over 140,000 COVID19 cases in France with 26,643 deaths.
France is not the only food encouraging its people to eat more of a certain food. In April, Belgium asked its citizens to eat more fries to avoid waste.
More than 750,000 tons of potatoes were at risk being wasted as restaurants and other major buyers who stopped stocking up during the global pandemic, according to Belgium’s Department of Agriculture.
Authorities in that country said if citizens ate fries twice a week, it would help cut down on waste.
At least 25 tons of potatoes will also be donated weekly to food banks through the end of May, the country announced.
RELATED STORIES
