Certain ideas, of mad simplicity, can have a big impact. This is the case with the local jar, an initiative that germinated in the head of Stéphanie Dartigue after a personal event which prevented him from collecting the fruits of his garden. A few months later, she launched an association, with the aim of fighting against "vegetable gardens" waste, and allowing people far from employment to find a professional activity and social bond. Interview:
What is the local jar?
The local jar is a professional integration structure, with support for food for food, which promote access to quality fruits and vegetables as many people as possible. Our first mission is the redistribution of foodstuffs with local solidarity associations. And to do this, we rely on a gleaning activity: we go to individuals but also producers, market gardeners and wholesalers to collect surplus of vegetable and fruit production.
We also launched © Potaginage - do not try to put this word to the scrabble, it is a brand that we have deposited - which is distinguished from gardening and market gardening because it is above all the creation and animation of vegetable spaces open to the greatest number.
When and how did your story started?
Like many atypical projects, the idea was born following a somewhat blocking personal situation. A few years ago, with my family we found ourselves unable to harvest the brungons of our garden. It saddens me to see them rot like that, when they could benefit other people in need. I realized that I was surely not the only one with this problem there and that we could perhaps consider a territorial solidarity project around that. So the little seed germinated. At the time I was already working in the social sector, so I talked about the project around me, which seduced. In 2013, on the basis of the idea, I became a laureated Agenda 21 trophy in the department of Gironde, which gave me momentum to really take the steps.
How has it evolved over the years?
At the very beginning, door-to-door. People were sometimes surprised when we presented our approach, but the portals were almost always open to us! This allowed us to harvest, the first year, nearly 10 tonnes of fruits and vegetables, 20% of which came from 20 families around the corner! We also collaborate with market gardeners and wholesalers, happy to contribute to the fight against waste and redistribution to local solidarity associations and grocery stores.
Today, we mainly focus on 5-6 annual tonnes because our first concern is professional reintegration. Hence the diversification of our activities: the gleaning being seasonal and based on donation, we wanted to be able to offer employment, skills all year round through other missions such as © Potaginage.
How much are you working at the local jar?
Today there are 7 of us and we will soon go to 9. We are not in a sprawling dynamic, we are progressing little by little trying to consolidate our economic model. © Potaginage allows us to do this. We collaborate all year round with municipalities, schools, establishments such as crèches and EPHAD around vegetable know-how. We set up permaculture vegetable gardens, we offer animations to make this accessible to the greatest number. There is a desire for awareness -raising but also of transmission, we work the intergenerational link and sustainable development with several strings that can be mobilized for the whole company: compost, recycling, etc. We show that the interest is to study your ecosystem and do with it.
In parallel we have developed other activities such as TRACE, Tremplin to an Evolutive municipal agricultural management. We support communities around questions of collective catering, local market gardening, etc.
We also have in mind a canning project, which will allow us to transform surplus, give them a longer life and collaborate with solidarity grocery stores.
What fascinated you the most in this adventure?
The reaction of people who do not imagine the impact they may have by opening up to others. This link to the other, whether at the level of donors or at the level of gardeners, is extremely enriching and shows that everyone can act on a daily basis for everyone, simply by changing their gaze.
Whether in terms of gleaning or setting up vegetable gardens, everything is easily done, while in a way you enter the intimate sphere. But we realize that benevolence is there, at all levels.
Do you with a mantra to overcome all obstacles?
You know this proverb: "Only we go faster, together we go further"? We would rather say: "together we go elsewhere". Going out of the beaten track motivates us on a daily basis. You have to listen to others, not be in guilty but in awareness. Example with young people and the junk food, we are not there to hit their fingers. If they want to eat it we tell them go ahead, treat yourself, but come see us then, because we will also have very good things for you. The concept of pleasure is a wealth and must support our support.
Advice to give to who would like to embark on a similar adventure?
Show pugnacity and adaptability. We are on a big permanent, we must be convinced and convincing, our message is that we do not make a revolution we just come back to common sense!
A souvenir in jar?
Our very first recipe for vanilla and rum bananas jam! We had an absolutely enormous gift of bananas following a delivery refusal: we donated the majority to associations, but we still had 20 kg left. So we went up our sleeves, took our jams Le Parfait, Our big pots, and we launched ourselves! We still have it and it is delicious.