INNOVATION 1: Connecting urban and rural areas from food producers to consumers

What it is

Local Food Initiatives (PATs) aim to bring together the various stakeholders in a region to address food-related issues, thereby helping to ensure that the region’s social, environmental, economic, and health dimensions are taken into account. Most often supported by local authorities, they are based on a shared diagnosis of agriculture and food systems in the territory and on the definition of operational actions aimed at achieving the project, within an upward driven approach. They can play a pivotal role in accelerating the agricultural and food transition in regions, by bringing together producers, processors, distributors, local authorities and consumers, and by fostering relationships between urban and rural areas (details on what PATs are: https://agriculture.gouv.fr/projets-alimentaires-territoriaux).

Origin

it departs from a work in 13 cities/areas that are less equipped with resources compared to the Montpellier agglomeration, and are smaller towns/rural areas. Building such initiatives aims at addressing the issue of territories with a loss of economic vitality.

• rugged terrain with isolated areas,
• fragile winegrowing systems, very few market gardening, some cattle growers.
• existence of a lot of informal economy, in particular concerning the agricultural sector
• lack of technical know-how to foster cereal and pulse crops
• initiatives to tackle the poverty issue and lack of access of local products 

Actions developed within the PAT

• the launching of mobile grocery shop
• the launching of a community café with local products
• the support of winegrowers to start cultivating cereal and pulse crops, including participative seed selection, tree growing (carob tree, citrus adapted to climate change), agroforestry
• the connection between local producers and restaurants

Inspiration for the Aude Demontration Site (and other Demo Sites):

• support for fragile production systems towards diversification and food production with both annual and perennial crops
• foster the availability of local production thanks to participative development of local value chains
• methodological guide presenting an analysis of the Eastern Aude territory regarding cereal production and valorization
• a glance on initiatives in urban areas