Orvault, (Loire-Atlantique (44) – In the Nantes region, the town of Orvault is inaugurating its municipal farm. After having voted at the end of 2023 the acquisition of a farm, in the place called La Garnison, for an amount costing just under 600,000 euros, the Municipal Council decided to turn it into a market garden which will provide the city’s schools with organic, local and seasonal fruits and vegetables. The project will perhaps even provide. , ultimately, the future shared school kitchen in Orvault, Chapelle-sur-Erdre and Saint-Herblain (10,000 seats).
Located northwest of Nantes, Orvault, led by its mayor Jean-Sébastien Guitton (various left), wanted to supply school canteens in a short circuit. So why not acquire some land and recruit your own municipal farmer? This market gardener, under contract for at least 3 years, has a dual mission: to initiate the organic conversion of land (around 5 ha) and to structure the plots and greenhouses to gradually cultivate fruits and vegetables. The goal is to reap the fruits of this work from the start of the school year in September 2024.
A pedagogy “from the land to the plate” for the children of Orvault
The farm will also be useful for introducing children from city schools to the reality of an organic farm. The market gardener will therefore regularly organize workshops with the students and explain to them the reality of his profession. A “land to plate” pedagogy that could even transcend the ages since a plot of the farm could, in the long term, be transformed into shared gardens so that adults can come and create their own vegetable gardens.
The idea may catch on: other mayors in the Nantes region are looking closely at this full-scale experiment and are considering duplicating it for their own school canteens.
