Participants
29 people registered to the event, either as participants or as potential team leaders. Their profiles were: entrepreneurs, students, farm advisors and citizens.
France
Duration
1 day
Overview
The name of the event had to be changed, as the format changed. The second lockdown was announced in France the day before the start of the event. The first day was cancelled, the event took place in 48h. The event was renamed Local Food Hack, as it focuses on locally produced foods. The first part of the process was to conduct a survey to identify the most important issues following the emergence of the COVID crisis and the first lockdown. This was done by interviewing several stakeholders. The second part was dedicated to developing solutions for these issues.
List of ideas that was worked on
Topic 1: Consuming locally sourced products: during the first lockdown, we saw an increased interest from the general public for locally source products. how to maintain the attractivity of locally source products ? How to encourage local public/private partnerships? How can we optimize the logistics of local food supply chains?
Topic 2: Diversification and communication: Highly specialised companies and producers with a single outlet found themselves deprived of their preferred market overnight. Events and fairs were cancelled, and other channels had to be set up to maintain networking and allow sales pitch to take place. How to anticipate and manage crisis? How to assist producers in diversifying their sources of income?
Topic 3: Organisation and well-being: French supply chains include players of very different sizes. In smaller organizations, one individual could have to wear multiple hats, from marketing to production. How can SMEs better manage their work-life balance? How can we help farmers to take some rest, improve their mindset and motivate them?
Prizes
01
1 year membership toVEGEPOLYS VALLEY and Images & Réseaux, 2000€ cash prize
02
2 days of classes from the Chambre d’Agriculture Pays de la Loire, membership to VEGEPOLYS VALLEY & additional support from the network.
HackatHon
Organised by Vegepolys Valley
Hack[72h]
Mangeons Loc’als
Mangeons Loc’als was awarded the 1st prize. The first prize consisted of 1 year membership to VEGEPOLYS VALLEY and Images & Réseaux, as well as a cash prized of 2000 euros provided by the Chambre d’Agriculture Pays de la Loire.
Mangeons Loc’als is an online shopping platform selling products produced locally, in Anjou Loir and Sarthe. The shop was launch during the first lockdown in France, by a collective of farmers and a local NGO. Consumers can choose and place an order online; the order will be directly transmitted to the producers. Once the order is ready, it will be shipped to one of the two pick up points available. Each producer as personal profile page on the website, to introduce themselves and the product they provide. A variety of products is already available, from cheese and meat to vegetables and fruits.
For farmers, this is a great way to sell their products online, without having to take the burden of setting up and maintaining an online shop. This set-up is as close as possible to direct-selling.
For consumers, they can easily find and purchase a wide variety of local products to pick up at the most convenient time.
For local authorities, the Regional Council first provided economical support to the set-up of the platform and is now looking for transferring its ownership.
Brun Houblon
Brun Houblon focuses on hop production. They proposed to develop the production of locally sourced organic hops. The hops will be made available in urban areas, supplying a growing number of microbreweries. This initiative should encourage urban agriculture as well as local food transition.
The project developer of Brun Houblon is currently in training, studying urban agriculture. The Chambre d’Agriculture des Pays de la Loire has now an urban agriculture demonstrator in Angers. The Chambre is looking forward to further work with Brun Houblon to do full-scale tests.
Brun Houblon was awarded the 2nd prize which consists of 2 days of classes from the Chambre d’Agriculture Pays de la Loire, membership to the network “Végépolys Valley” & additional support from the network.