April 20, 2005 – More and more Quebecers are turning to community-supported agriculture (CSA)1. Thanks to her, it is possible to obtain baskets of organic food at a better price, while contributing to the development of ecological farms in her region.
This trend was born in Japan in the 1970s, where we wanted to maintain peasant agriculture by applying the formula Teiki, which means “food with the face of the farmer,” says Isabelle Joncas, coordinator of the Quebec network of CSA projects. After the concept had migrated to Europe and then to the United States in the 1980s, ASC experiments began in Quebec in the first half of the 1990s.
The CSA program in Quebec, sponsored by the Équiterre organization, really took off in 1996, with seven farms. In 2005, it is estimated that the network’s 97 ecological farms will produce 7,200 baskets of organic fruit, vegetables and meat, which will feed more than 20,000 people in 14 regions of Quebec. Customers generally receive their basket every week or every two weeks.
Another form of mutualism
“In a CHW program, the customer becomes a partner of the farm, which in turn commits to providing them with a variety of certified organic foods that are good for their health,” explains Ms. Joncas.
By paying from the start of the season the share of the harvest or the breeding that will come to him, the client-partner allows the farmer to have more solid financial security to better plan his season. As there is no middleman, the reduction in the total cost of food is estimated at 30%; this “room for maneuver” is shared between the farmer who obtains fairer compensation for his labor, and the customer who can “eat organic” at an affordable price.
However, the ASC’s philosophy is not strictly based on the economic aspect, insists Isabelle Joncas: “It encourages ecological agriculture by promoting contact between partners and farmers: it makes it possible to create links between city dwellers and rural dwellers. “. Hence the incentive for partners to participate in production, depending on their availability. This is another form of mutualism!
Rigorous agriculture
To be part of the CSA network, a farm must be certified organic or in the process of being certified. This means that its owner must respect the Act respecting reserved designations. “It requires a great deal of effort on the part of the farmer, who must ensure the balance of the ecosystems he uses, without relying on the same government programs as other traditional farmers”, specifies Isabelle Joncas, herself an agronomist. . This involves, among other things, the rotation of crops, the use of compost or “green manures”, as well as the ban on the use of pesticides, fertilizers or genetically modified seeds.
The Équiterre spokesperson deplores the fact that organic farming does not benefit from the same support as traditional farming from the federal and provincial governments. “We need to adapt and make more accessible agricultural programs, such as crop insurance and price stabilization. It’s a question of fairness! “.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. For more information on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) or to find out how to get “organic baskets”: www.equiterre.org.
Photo credit: Ferme Le Vallon des Sources. Image courtesy of Équiterre.
