25 tonnes of vegetables are produced in the heart’s gardens. 14 employees work there. This vegetable garden allows them to reintegrate and be supported in their efforts.
“What are you planting there? “ Monso and Rafi are in the middle of the plot. They are Senegalese and Afghan, one is a former unaccompanied miner and the other fled the war in his country. That morning, he planted chard seeds. It’s one of the 37 varieties they learned to plant at the Jardin du Cœur.
It is a solidarity vegetable garden which supplies the beneficiaries of the Restos du coeur association.
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“The goal is to find a professional activity again, to get back into the habit of working with colleagues.develops David Aubry, technical supervisor of the gardens of the heart. And then mature and form a professional project which is not necessarily linked to market gardening.”
Each year, around 25 tonnes of vegetables are produced here to supply the 17 sites of the Restos du coeur d’Ille-et-Vilaine.
“Here I see all the steps from start to finish.” Destinée is one of the garden’s 14 employees. Her mission here, the tasks she undertakes, it all makes sense to her. “We see how we do the seedlings. How to transplant them. Step by step. I had never done this before. Here we know that we eat organic.”
“I grow food that is eaten by people who generally cannot afford organic food.adds Alexandre, another employee of the jardin du coeur. I’ve been on food aid before so it’s super rewarding to be on the other side of this.”
14 employees work here.
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Throughout their maximum 16 months of contracts, employees participate in training courses such as tractor licenses and intensive French courses.
To read : INVESTIGATION. “Today, we do not envisage that food aid will no longer exist”: when the State delegates, the associations taste
“We have a whole bunch of missions to accomplish, develops Laurence Le Roch, volunteer manager of the garden. For example, we sometimes have to help them find accommodation. There may also be health problems to resolve at the same time.” The supervisors support them in each step of daily life. “Because all of these are obstacles to employment.”
On average, 60% of employees who passed through the garden of the heart found training or employment.
