“Half of new agricultural projects have direct sales components”
By piloting projects such as fraisetlocal.fr, the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture, of which Gérard Bazin is the president, is helping to promote short supply chains.
What should a platform like fraisetlocal.fr bring?
“The consumption of organic products and local products, it will last, it is not a fad, I am convinced of it. Of the 70 installations of new projects that we have in the Rhône, half have direct sales production components. With the Department, we also had the idea of this kind of directory, and we are setting up our own site, monproduitlocal69.fr , which should be operational in the spring. “
The Ministry of Agriculture is the initiative of fraisetlocal.fr and it is you, the Chambers of Agriculture, who should lead?
“I am not criticizing the initiative which, fundamentally, is a good thing, but we were surprised, we Chamber of Agriculture, to have to be the bearers when it is an idea of the government. Especially since we have the same initiative at the level of the department and this should not harm the visibility of our initiatives when the goal is to make local producers known. In any case, we are helping to set up the first phase of fraisetlocal.fr with, as a first step, local producers certified “Welcome to the farm” and high schools or schools guaranteeing the sale of 100% reliable local products. “
What is the next step ?
“I think we will have to add producer stores to this site. We have 21 in the Rhône, such as Uniferme in Mornant, the Tour de Salvagny store, the one in Francheville, or even Craponne… These networks are essential. With baskets, direct online sales, this shows that it is not only the markets that are important for short circuits. And we are trying to get farmers to move in this direction. “
Interview by S. R.
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