« Make a garden in town to feed people is eminently political » – Liberation

Twenty-four hours in the life of a solidarity and participative grocery store located in a popular district of Bordeaux. The inhabitants built a place there to eat healthier and more local. It has become a place of exchange, witness to the food precariousness of part of the population. Earth report on the plate.

This morning, in the middle of high herbs, Maïwen, 3 and a half, pivots on herself and drops on his knees in a burst of laughter. After taking care to put her braids behind her ears, she plunges her hands into the ground in search of an earthworm. Without success. Not taken aback for a penny, she wipes her hands on her pink t-shirt and picks a yellow flower to feel it. A large smile takes shape on his face. “This is the first time I have taken her here. She is happy because at her place, there is no gardenObserves, tenderly, her grandmother, designating the buildings of buildings that surround the plot. Like every Saturday, Victorine, 65, offers a few hours of her time to help maintain the shared and participative garden of the large park, a priority district, located north of Bordeaux. On this spring day, the group that accompanies it has the mission of planting peas and beans. Soon, it will be the turn of tomatoes, spices, melons, watermelons … The harvest will land on the stalls of the solidarity and participative grocery store EPI C’utout, carried by the local association, just a few minutes on foot.

A short circuit of the garden on the plate in the heart of the Bordeaux city. “Planting your own fruits and vegetables at the foot of the buildings, seeing them grow and eating them is a huge pride. In these moments, I admire farmers even more. We become aware of the difficulty and importance of their work ”, note the retiree. « It is very rewarding to say that we can also, on our scale, help people in the neighborhood to eat », ABSUD SOULEYMANE, 26, busy sowing seeds. « It works so well that I have not yet had the opportunity to taste what I put in the ground. Everything starts too fast « adds Jérémy, 39, happy to have found an opportunity to leave her apartment to work the earth in the open air.

Developing spaces dedicated to urban agriculture according to the methods of agroecology, the idea is far from new. Quantity of projects continue to swarm everywhere in France with, in filigree, this desire to make food healthier and accessible to all. However, their realization is still too often under the obstacle course. In Grand Parc, it took years to the Local’Attitude association, created in 2016, before being able to exploit land in the neighborhood. « It was an administrative mille-feuille, whether for the allocation of a premises or a plot, its delimitation … To this were added a change of mandate and the covid. Make a garden in town to feed people is eminently political « advance Nicolas Perrat, in charge of the daily operation of the grocery store.

“It took tenacity and resilience to structure us. But we didn’t give up because the demand was there ”summarizes Olivier Loubradou, coadminister of the association and resident of the district. The few gardens in the round had long waiting lists like the arm ensures the duo. To this was added an increasing precariousness in this area of ​​around 60 hectares where nearly 11,000 inhabitants resident in more than 4,000 homes. « For many homes in precarious situations, food remains an adjustment variablehe completes. Faced with the cost of living, some have no choice but to deprive themselves, to eat less well or in smaller quantity. We wanted to offer them a more worthy alternative. ” Among the 600 members of the Asso, a hundred benefits from food aid which allows them to make half -price purchases. Local’Attitude is also one of the places approved by Social Security of Food in the department. « A partnership that has considerably increased our visibility »welcomes Olivier.

When it was created, the association has chosen to open its grocery store to all audiences, without resource condition, in a strategic place on the border between large park and the very chic district of Chartrons. One way of not further stigmatizing precarious people. “It is double -edged. This forced us to be a little schizo in our approach: residents taxed us from Bordeaux sores, others have passed their way convinced that we only addressed to the poorest people. Wack of word of mouth allowed us in part to rectify the shot but the idea is tenacious, we continue to suffer ”analysis Olivier Loubradou. Coconstructed by the inhabitants of the north of Bordeaux, the food solidarity network has still managed to unite 117 volunteers.

Beans, chard, lemon balm … It is the end of the afternoon and, in the middle of the shelving, Rachida and Abdallah, a couple of volunteers applies to manage the supply and enhance the harvest of the garden. « The taste of these vegetables is something! » Nothing to do with what you find in hypermarkets, it reconciled me with green ”says a client by sliding beans in her wicker basket. “We also planned to introduce residents to amaranth, Okra or blood sorrel. One way to demonstrate that even by eating local, in urban areas, you can diversify your plate »details Nina Chaussade, employee and garden manager. « It’s great, because when you get your ear, it is not uncommon to come across a recipe exchange between two customers. Like this time when I heard one of them advising another to put rhubarb in his pan -fried vegetables. Or the one who did not cook but who explained to start to be interested in coming to see us. I tell myself that we managed to create a small dynamic in the neighborhood »rejoices Nicolas Perrat. In order to offer prices « Who don’t put off too much » The inhabitants, Local’Atitude assumes to complete its selection with products from conventional agriculture. For meat, dairy products, bulk cereals or everyday products, the team tries as much as possible to look for local references. « We do the best, so as not to cut ourselves with a good part of our members »justifies Nicolas who specifies that the association has a budget of around 250,000 euros for the year, half of which comes from public subsidies.

Behind the scenes of the adventure of a solidarity grocery store and a participative garden also hides a multitude of small daily hassles. Problems often specific to the urban space that force the grocery team and volunteers to compete in ingenuity. With the quality of the earth in the first place. Before planting at the large park, the terrain must have been disbursed over 60 cm, a necessary step to depolluate the floors. « A big project » supplemented by the amendment of the earth. The supply of water was another puzzle, « Complexified by the prohibition to place rainwater recovery to avoid the proliferation of mosquitoes in town »Nina, Olivier and Nicolas. “We connect to the public network to water fruits and vegetables but we remain very dependent on the opening of valves by communities. They are cut in winter to avoid freezing of pipes ”explains Nina. Added to the proliferation of rats in untimely crops and flights. « We are in a phase where we try to find a way to coexist with rodents so as not to use chemicals, continues Nina. It’s very complicated to manage. But I saw a report in which the animators advise planting laurels to keep them away. Business to follow … « 

What was the most difficult ultimately is the degradation of the feet and the flights of the crops – The « untimely gleaning » As Olivier nicely summarizes. “We try to make pedagogy to limit breakage. Even if it means telling thieves : « If you fly, do it well, without breaking » « half nina jokes. The community was more radical: the small wooden barriers were replaced by large fences closed by padlocks. « It’s a shame »blows a volunteer.

Rachida and Abdallah make the apron, the day is over. Their basket is filled with victuals. Tonight, with their 13 -year -old daughter, they plan to make a pan -fried with the chard and the beans of the shared garden. « We eat much more balanced since we both come here »Note Rachida. The couple developed such a attachment to the place that even when they moved in 2024 to ten kilometers, they wanted to keep their ritual. Two trams, a bus. The one -hour journey did not convince them to stop everything. « It’s a bit of a separate place »they slip. «  » In the past six months there has been an explosion in the number of people in precarious situations. Many retireesdescribes Nicolas Perrat. We are all the more convinced of the interest of our mission. ”