These projects will not yet allow the metropolis of Bordeaux to achieve food self-sufficiency, but they must accelerate support for local agriculture. It is from Barcelona, where he participates with the municipal councilor responsible for food resilience Ève Demange, in the World Forum of the urban food policy pact, that the mayor of Bordeaux Pierre Hurmic (EELV) made several announcements.
“We are here to discuss the issues of food resilience and of
nurturing city, explains Pierre Hurmic to 20 minutes. It is in this context that we presented projects of
microfarms, in three districts of Bordeaux, in particular at La Benauge and at the Grand Parc for the most advanced projects. The third project will be in the Jallère area, near the Matmut Atlantique stadium, while the mayor of Bordeaux has also announced an aquaponics agriculture project on the roof of the submarine base.
“Experiments for the agricultural models of tomorrow”
“We have two teams working on the subject,” explains Ève Demange. On the Grand Parc, we will be on a 5,000 m2 plot, in the heart of the district, and on La Benauge we will have 2,000 m2. Our questioning revolves around the integration of these projects in the neighborhoods, and on the yield, because it is necessary to be able to be very productive on these small surfaces for it to be effective. In this, it will be about experiments for the agricultural model of tomorrow. “
These are places “where we have identified a deficiency in terms of food groceries, continues the city councilor, the idea is therefore to offer places of agricultural production, with a market gardener, to allow residents to have access to a supply produced locally, in an ultra-short circuit. But there will also be a social dimension, since we will be able to learn how to produce fruit and vegetables and how to cook them, and we can simply meet there. “
“Recreating a real lung on the Jallère”
The Jallère project is less advanced. This 40-hectare area has been “sanctuarized” by the new municipality, while the old majority wanted to develop an urban planning program with housing, offices, but also an urban farm project. “We are starting from zero, warns Pierre Hurmic. We are working with a professional on an agroecology project, and we want to develop a training aspect around this theme. This project is expected to occupy approximately 14 hectares.
“We also want to recreate a real lung on the Jallère, with trees in particular, adds Ève Demange, it must be a place of destination for the inhabitants of Bordeaux metropolis. “The main difficulty in this area is that it is” a polluted site, which requires specific studies, “warns Pierre Hurmic.
85% of Bordeaux residents eat in supermarkets
Finally, on the roof of the submarine base, the municipality announces that it will develop an aquaponics farm project. Aquaculture contraction [culture de poissons] and hydroponics, aquaponics consists of using fish droppings to feed plants. “On the submarine base, we have 2,000 m2, a project of this type is quite suitable”, estimates the mayor of Bordeaux.
These projects will complete the four hectare site located in Haillan, owned by the city of Bordeaux, entrusted to the company Les P’tits Cageots to develop market gardening there.
According to a diagnosis carried out by the city hall of Bordeaux, some 85% of Bordeaux residents eat in supermarkets, “while in Barcelona, 64% of residents buy from 39 markets in the city,” explains Ève Demange. This questions the choices that have been made, and those to be made to set up shorter food chains, which require less transport. “