La recherche en action : Outils et ressources pour accompagner les circuits courts alimentaires

Cette journée s’inscrit dans la phase de finalisation du projet LiProCo (Liens Producteurs-Consommateurs). Au-delà du transfert des savoirs, il s’agit d’une part d’inciter et de conforter l’appropriation des résultats de recherche par les acteurs ; et d’autre part de mettre en perspective cette dynamique de recherche-action engagée dans le cadre du projet LiProCo. La journée donnera lieu à des temps de restitution et surtout des moments de partage d’idées pour mettre en oeuvre des analyses sur les circuits courts et conduire des actions en faveur du développement de ces démarches. Cette journée à destination des acteurs de l’accompagnement, des collectivités, des élus, des consommateurs et producteurs, des étudiants et des formateurs sera ponctuée par trois temps forts :
O Trois ateliers de transfert d’outils (méthode et analyse)
O Un centre de ressources où seront mis à disposition rapports, guides et autre publications
O Deux forums d’expression pour un partage d’expériences entre acteurs sur la formation et la gouvernance alimentaire territoriale
LiProCo propose donc d’étudier les démarches de valorisation des produits alimentaires et activités connexes fondées sur les proximités producteurs-consommateurs. Il porte sur les quatre régions du Grand Ouest de la France ainsi que sur la région Rhône-Alpes. Il se structure autour de deux axes complémentaires que sont d’une part les démarches de valorisation centrées sur le produit et la proximité avec les consommateurs, d’autre part les démarches de valorisation centrées sur l’identité territoriale dans les interrelations avec le tourisme. Chacun de ces deux axes déroule une méthodologie commune, fondée sur la mise en oeuvre de questions de recherche transdisciplinaires intégrant systématiquement sociologie, économie, sciences de gestion, droit et géographie
INSCRIPTIONS: ICI

Plus d'informations:

B. Berger (FR Civam Bretagne)  blaise.berger@civam-bretagne.org
o M. Poisson (LiProCo) m.poisson@groupe-esa.com
Projet Li Pro Co

Is the CAP a ground for European disunion? An assessment of the solidarity mechanisms created by the CAP and their relevance after 2013 by Nadège Chambon

Published by Notre Europe June 24 2011

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been based on three types of solidarity since 1962: financial solidarity between Member States, Community preference and the solidarity of the Community towards farmers. These types of solidarity have been led astray or weakened over time while new measures favourable to European cohesion have been incorporated into the CAP in the 1970s and the 1980s: compensation of natural handicaps, food programme for the most deprived persons, rural development.
Whilst it was a pioneer in European solidarity, the CAP causes a division which peaks regularly during budgetary negotiations. The distribution of direct aid (a third of the EU's expenditure) crystallises criticisms: it is more advantageous to big farming countries to the detriment of rich countries with little agriculture; it benefits regions in different ways according to their territorial specialisation; it foresees a different system between the EU15 and EU12 until 2013. This situation gives the impression that European public money is badly spent.
This policy paper proposes the state of European solidarity mechanisms within the CAP, evaluates the relevance of it in the modern context and comes up with proposals to reform them after 2013.

Please visit Notre Europe to know more

Why sustainable food procurement?

Why should local government get involved?
“Sustainability focuses on providing the best outcomes for both the human and natural environments now, and into the indefinite future.” 
The UK Government buys £13 billion worth of goods and services each year, for the wider public sector this figure is £125 billion (1).  This year, the UK's 468 local authorities will spend over £80 billion on day to day services - over a quarter of all public expenditure (2). 

It is clear that with such significant buying power the public sector can make a great deal of difference if it changes its buying habits, creating a large market for more sustainable products and ways of procuring those products. 

But why sustainable food?
As for all public sector activities, it is important that a policy can be shown to benefit the local community.  How food is served, prepared, purchased and produced can have a significant impact on the health of individuals, communities and their environment.

For local councils sustainable food is about (2):

• Promoting good health
• Having access to healthy food.
• Supporting the local economy by buying food from as close by as possible
• Eating food in season
• Sustainable farming, involving high environmental standards and reduced energy consumption
• Promoting animal welfare, and valuing nature and biodiversity
• Fair prices, fair trade and ethical employment in the UK and overseas.

Food procurement not only effects the wider global environment but also directly affects the health of the individuals who eat it. 

Sustainable food procurement allows both the healthy eating, economic and environmental agenda to be combined and acted upon . It gives local government an opportunity to take the lead in a field where we can truly make a difference to our local communities.

For more info and a toolkit, please visit FOOD VISION

Do Mobile Food Markets Increase Urban Food Access?

Can expanding the value of SNAP assistance and implementing a mobile farmers market have an appreciable effect on urban inner city communities? Two metro areas are trying to find out. Camden, NJ and Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri have implemented programs to match the value of SNAP assistance as well as using mobile fresh food markets to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to inner city neighborhoods that otherwise are isolated in food deserts. Both locations have teamed up with foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies as well as a solid Food Access organization to create this opportunity. Is this a sustainabile model? Both cities depend on philanthropy and/or government funds for these pilot programs. A sustainable business model for community development may need to enter the equation to keep these programs going.

Camden, NJ

Camden is a highly impoverished and crime-ridden city located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, PA. Camden is a tough city, though it is filled with resilient people and a fast-changing demographic that is seeing neighborhoods shift from African-American to Hispanic. There is only one chain retail grocery store in Camden, located on the outer southern edge of the city. Inside the city there are corner stores, convenience marts, dollar stores, and CVS that provide food to the 75,000 people in the city, many of whom rely on public transit to get around. Across the river (5 minutes by subway) is downtown Philadelphia, home to the Reading Marketplace (a 7 day a week indoor vendor market with fresh foods), Whole Foods Store on South Street (a community partnership store), and the Italian Marketplace – with a 100+ years of fresh produce sales to the trade and to the public. Yet, Philadelphia may as well be on the moon as Camden residents do not travel there for food.

The latest response to bring fresh food to Camden is a mobile farmer market via the Greensgrow Farms. Greensgrow is a very successful social enterprise that has a nonprofit Philadelphia Project and a for-profit nursery and farm. Greensgrow serves the urban neighborhoods of Philadelphia with fresh food, SNAP benefits (matching funds to make food stamp dollars go farther), and sustainable growing practices for food and ornamentals that produce jobs. The Greensgrow Mobile Market started in summer 2011 with 4 stops in Camden, including the Rutgers University campus which sits in the center of Camden's downtown waterfront neighborhood. Greensgrow is offering up a selection of traditional summer fruits and vegetables as well as produce familiar to Hispanic families such as Jicama and peppers.

The Greensgrow effort complements the existing summer farmer market program that has 3 locations in Camden, each open one day a week that have been supported by a Greensgrow partner – AHEC The Area Health Education Center. The state of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs provided a $100,000 grant to get the mobile market going.

Greensgrow is using this summer program as a pilot to determine if their brand of farming, growing, and business would be a good fit for Camden. Their farming strategy includes raised beds (perfect for the brownfield vacant lots in Camden) and encouraging local residents to embrace the farmed land and gardens as part of the community. Camden already has a wealth of experience with small neighborhood gardens and backyard gardens with hundreds created over the years thanks to a cultivation program organized by The Children's Garden. The Greensgrow approach to urban farming may well be a good fit for Camden.

Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri

There are two places named Kansas City – one in Kansas is the smaller city, and the other in Missouri is the larger metro anchor. Each has its share of poverty and low income people in their inner-city neighborhoods. Cultivate KC – a strong, nonprofit, food access organization has teamed up with the Menorah Foundation and other philanthropic partners to create a SNAP benefit program for farmers markets as well as a mobile program to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to these neighborhoods. Beans & Greens is a pilot program that provides a 2:1 match for SNAP funds spent at one of their 6 participating partner farmer markets or in the 3 neighborhoods served by the mobile market. The mobile program gets to each neighborhood once per week. It includes fruits and vegetables that are of particular interest to Hispanic families. Upwards of 15-20% of the population in the main urban counties in the Kansas City metro on both sides of the state line is receiving SNAP assistance from the Federal government.

Beans & Greens also seeks to expand its impact by supporting community gardens in more urban neighborhoods and assist those neighborhoods in growing their way to fresh food access. The urban neighborhoods in Kansas City are considered urban food deserts. While there are supermarkets and chain grocery stores available in the urban core, they are often clustered at the edges of the core and few if any are found in the center which would be more accessible to residents, especially those dependent on public transit. Corner stores, convenience marts, CVS and Walgreens, and ethnic markets are available, but often have limited selection (if any) of fresh produce and costs are sometimes high.

The Beans & Greens SNAP match is an innovative way of creating a financial incentive for families to eat healthy foods. 

Source: Sustainable Cities Collective

¿ Cómo protege la UE a los consumidores europeos de los productos peligrosos ?

La legislación europea garantiza una protección elevada y uniforme de la salud y la seguridad de los consumidores, para ello, los productos comercializados en el mercado interior se someten a exigencias generales de seguridad y, en caso de que se detecte una amenaza grave para los consumidores, se pone en marcha un sistema de alerta rápida: RAPEX (regulado por la Directiva 2001/95/CE).

Gracias a este sistema, los Estados miembros pueden informar inmediatamente a la Comisión, a la que deben remitir:

• La información que permita identificar el producto.
• Una descripción del riesgo que comporta el producto, así como cualquier documento que permita evaluarlo.
• Las medidas adoptadas (preventivas o restrictivas).
• La información sobre la distribución del producto.
• Si el riesgo grave tiene un efecto transfronterizo.

Los datos de RAPEX contribuyen a:

• Impedir y limitar el suministro de productos peligrosos a los consumidores.
• Supervisar la eficacia y la coherencia de las actividades de vigilancia del mercado y las medidas destinadas a garantizar el cumplimiento de la normativa por parte de las autoridades de los Estados miembros.
• Identificar las necesidades y proporcionar una base para actuar a nivel de la UE.
• Garantizar la aplicación coherente de las exigencias comunitarias en materia de seguridad de los productos y, de este modo, el buen funcionamiento del mercado interior.

Los Estados miembros están obligados a utilizar este sistema cuando:

• No puede descartarse que un producto peligroso se haya vendido a los consumidores en más de un Estado miembro de la UE.
• No puede descartarse que un producto peligroso se ha vendido a los consumidores a través de internet.
• El producto procede de un tercer país y es probable que se haya importado en la UE a través de varios canales de distribución.

Más información aqui
O en el portal de la Unión Europea.

European Parliament set to pass new consumer rights bill into law

Consumers and businesses alike should reap the benefits of new consumer rights legislation in Europe, with years of negotiations set to conclude with the approval by the European Parliament on Thursday (23 June) of the EU's Consumer Rights Directive.

Last week (16 June), the Parliament's internal market and consumer protection (IMCO) committee backed at first reading a compromise agreement on the draft law reached on 6 June between representatives of all three EU institutions, paving the way for this week's first-reading vote in plenary.
'Win-win' situation for businesses, consumers
"Consumers and businesses will equally win. We are a big step closer to a truly common internal market in Europe," said German centre-right MEP Andreas Schwab (European People's Party), who is steering the directive through the Parliament, ahead of the vote.
Describing the directive as "a good compromise between necessary consumer rights and justified business interests," Schwab said it would serve as an example of where "more Europe" benefits shoppers and traders alike.
Brussels has been wrestling with the legislation since it was first tabled by the European Commission back in 2008 (see ‘Background').
"More safety for consumers shopping online and common rules for businesses – these are the headlines of the political agreement between the Parliament and the Council on the Consumer Rights Directive," said Schwab.
An EU-wide right for consumers to change their minds about purchase decisions within two weeks and clearer pricing rules for Internet sales were among changes made to the draft legislation by representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and member states in trialogue talks earlier this month.
That deal was backed unanimously by the IMCO committee with 28 votes in favour, none against and three abstentions.

Source: EurActiv

Plymouth’s pioneering local food project

A city-wide food project in Plymouth is set to be a shining example for the rest of the UK on sustainable food sourcing in urban areas. The Plymouth Food Project aims to help make Plymouth Britain’s first ‘Sustainable Food City’.
As part of this initiative The Plymouth Food Procurement Project is supporting local producers to supply fresh fruit and vegetables into Plymouth’s schools and hospitals. The project is led by the Soil Association and The Barefoot Partnership Ltd and involves a city-wide partnership of public sector organisations including Plymouth City Council, University of Plymouth and NHS Plymouth.
Plymouth’s Food Charter, launched in February this year, aims to promote a thriving economy, health and well being, resilient and close knit communities, life long learning and skills, and a reduced eco footprint. Over 30 Plymouth-based organisations are now signed up to help deliver these aims, these include; Transition Plymouth, Riverford Organic Vegetables, National Marine Aquarium, Gribble’s Butchers, Tamar View Fruiterers and Stiltskin Theatre Company.
The food and drink sector employs nearly 250,000 people in the South West and makes up 8% of total economic output. Food and drink is the largest manufacturing sector, largest retailing sector and is a key tourist attraction, accounting for one third of visitor spending.
Traci Lewis of the Soil Association, coordinator of Plymouth Food Project, said:
“This is a truly pioneering project which could provide the blue print for sustainable cities across the UK. It’s a winner for everyone involved. Not only do the residents of Plymouth get more fresh, tasty, good quality local food on the menu, the increase in the amount of locally produced food and drink sold into Plymouth’s public sector is great news for a thriving local economy and the local farmers, growers and food businesses who supply the produce.”

Visit www.foodplymouth.org to sign up to the Food Charter and find out more.
For full Plymouth Food Procurement project report and case studies visit www.southwestfoodanddrink.com