French Community-Supported Agriculture Case Study: Paniers Marseillais (Part 1)

General News Jan 1, 1970By Emily Carter 0 views

Marseille, perched on the shores of the Mediterranean, is France's great seaport and the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region*. To France, Provence is what California is to the United States: its radiant landscapes are etched deep in the public imagination, and its varied geography and mild Mediterranean climate have made it a heavyweight of agriculture. Provence ranks first in France for the output of vegetables and fruit, flowers, olives and plants grown for the perfume industry, and it is also the country's largest organic farming region. It comes as no surprise, then, that France's "community-supported agriculture" movement began here.

This article introduces the Paniers Marseillais, a resident-led initiative in the city of Marseille, itself ringed by this land of plenty.

*Region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (PACA), referred to in this article simply as the Provence region, or Provence.

In spring, a week's worth of vegetables and fruit for two people, at one of the Paniers Marseillais pick-up points.

In the articles that follow, I will continue to share with the readers of NewsMarket what I have seen at the Paniers Marseillais, through interviews and my own firsthand experience of taking part. In an era when food-safety scandals keep emerging, many people in Taiwan have already begun trying to open up a safer, more transparent and more sustainable way of eating. Conditions in Taiwan and France may differ, and the Paniers Marseillais has its own limitations, but I still hope that sharing a case like this can offer a point of reference as we search together for workable solutions on the ground.

Note 1: While writing this article, I also consulted the website of the Alliance Provence, and found that the producers working with that association are in fact mostly small farmers with organic certification, so the current situation does not entirely match what Diyano described. Perhaps it is the tide of the times, along with competition between commercial distribution channels and nonprofit organizations, that has led AMAPs to place ever more emphasis on producers being not only local but also organic.

Sadly, the Alliance Provence declared bankruptcy in 2014 owing to poor management; it has now been renamed and taken under the wing of another nationwide AMAP organization, and its future development remains to be seen.

Note 2: At its founding, the Paniers Marseillais had 6 farms and 6 pick-up points, not 5; correction made (5/15/2015).

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French Community-Supported Agriculture Case Study: Paniers Marseillais (Part 1)

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