“We were one of the first departments out of the current 38 to adhere to this approach,” explains Jean-Philippe Vautrin, vice-president of the Meuse departmental council, delegate in particular for the Environment, accompanied by Guillaume Giro, “his” Director of Ecological Transition. “It’s because we are an agricultural department, and because the State relaunched the communities on the Egalim law following the farmers’ movements,” specifies the elected official.
With this tool, the Department wishes to promote local production, promote kitchen teams and enforce the Egalim law. It allows 45 buyers including 15 schools “but” only five communities, including Codecom de Fresnes, to obtain supplies from 89 suppliers, 73% of whom are farmers. An approach that has been in constant progress since 2021. The turnover generated has increased from €57,000 to €375,000 in three years.
550 meals served daily in Codecom
The Territoire de Fresnes signed its first agreement in April 2021 with a test phase until September 2021, the date of the official launch. The community’s catering activity represents 70,000 meals served in 2023, or an average of 550 meals per day, which are prepared for schools, from nursery school to college, but also for nurseries and daycare centers.
The Department supports the approach with 30% of the costs for colleges. In 2023, total food purchases for Codecom reach €205,000 including tax, including €30,000 of labeled products and €23,000 of organic products.
This choice to favor short circuits had already been initiated well before Agrilocal and the Egalim laws, in the Codecom of Fresnes. “We have always wanted to emphasize local production,” emphasize Didier Alexandre, the president, and Véronique Grosse, the manager of the intercommunal kitchen.
If the producers, some already in direct sales before Agrilocal, recognize its interest, they point out certain elements which penalize them: problems of logistics, deliveries in relation to the quantities ordered. “In the end, we may have to draw prices,” summarizes Élise Doudoux, young producer, new to Agrilocal.
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