This
the end of August I spent in France in a match - twinning with the French who call it GAS AMAP
But what are the gases?
Gas stands for purchasing groups are not united and as one may think of the word ... groups to buy cheap, low price, but groups that seek to avoid purchasing and the excessive power of supermarkets who buy products at a very low price often and often foreign foods treated with pesticides, herbicides, GMOs etc ... This system of supermarkets because in essence these consequences:
1) Relocation of work due to purchase more applicant of food from the east or from far away to increasingly lower the purchase cost of food than the Italian product.
2) poor quality of food purchased by the producer due to substance use and donnose unnatural and inadequate control of techniques and methods of production due to the distance.
3) choking Italian producers who want to work with large retail chains .
create buying groups in solidarity means (including by the short chain that lower transport costs, packaging, brokerage, etc. ..) try to make local products more competitive for the joint effect of the acquisition. In this way, you can also check the quality of the products of the proximity of suppliers and / or producers.
important fact for all gassisti is to receive organic produce not treated with chemicals. In the holiday-twinning
we also visited some local producers used by AMAP
Minutes of twinning:
But what are the gases?
Gas stands for purchasing groups are not united and as one may think of the word ... groups to buy cheap, low price, but groups that seek to avoid purchasing and the excessive power of supermarkets who buy products at a very low price often and often foreign foods treated with pesticides, herbicides, GMOs etc ... This system of supermarkets because in essence these consequences:
1) Relocation of work due to purchase more applicant of food from the east or from far away to increasingly lower the purchase cost of food than the Italian product.
2) poor quality of food purchased by the producer due to substance use and donnose unnatural and inadequate control of techniques and methods of production due to the distance.
3) choking Italian producers who want to work with large retail chains .
create buying groups in solidarity means (including by the short chain that lower transport costs, packaging, brokerage, etc. ..) try to make local products more competitive for the joint effect of the acquisition. In this way, you can also check the quality of the products of the proximity of suppliers and / or producers.
important fact for all gassisti is to receive organic produce not treated with chemicals. In the holiday-twinning
we also visited some local producers used by AMAP
Minutes of twinning:
experience and project dell'AMAP (Association pour d'une Agriculture Paysanne the MAINTIEN) is fundamentally based on the consumer-supplier contract, and the annual output achieved by the organic producer is also chosen depending on the amount requested by amappisti, established by a written contract between the producer and consumer in which the Amap General is the guarantor of its proper performance, efficiency and mutual satisfaction (there is a real choice by amappisti regarding the type of vegetables to be planted).
The producer makes a list of products that also takes account of biodiversity and local production and recovery of species that were cultivated once and now little-used. Each consumer
early in the season concludes different contracts, each for each producer, in which will determine the quantity of goods you purchase (eg. for vegetable basket, you can choose between small, medium, large). The role dell'AMAP at this stage is just to check the formalities of the contract and the quality of the industry.
Before choosing a manufacturer is selected, through which the AMAP is familiar with the mentality of the producer, the methods of cultivation or breeding, and the choice is also made with a view to encourage and help the eventual conversion of the producer to an organic way, by entering into a relationship of trust that will be deepened and improved through training courses organized by the Alliance of AMAP existing subregional and regional levels is also funded by grants publice well as by the entrance fee to enter the Amap for our case that amounts to about € 10 a year.
Payment for the products is done at the beginning of the year by issuing a number of allowances equal to the monthly payments under the contract, with the date of the first year, which will be gradually withdrawn from the producer for each month (your choice Consumer can also be cashing checks on a quarterly basis or a single payment without further discounts than the fixed price).
Having checks in hand, as though encased in time, the manufacturer gives a guarantee of having guaranteed income for a period of time and to set the pace and management of its work and employees hired, lifting it to turn expensive debts with financial institutions and banks.
Each manufacturer makes regular tax receipt to the buyer.
The pickup is organized dall'AMAP in premises provided by the City (this for the AMAP Condrieu), through the direct involvement of the manufacturer that distributes with the help of a rolling amappista every time (which two are likely to become short of Condrieu for AMAP). One of the six amappisti part of the board of our Amap is responsible for opening the office, bring the documents and the register of the notes of the day, while another closes the room taking stock of the situation, agggiornando register with personal notes and send an e-mail to the two responsible for relations with all amappisti.
During deployment, the atmosphere is very friendly, there is a lot of participation and a continuous exchange between amappisti and producer, with a strong recognition of the work of the producer and shared emotional elements that allow the producer to feel appreciated and rewarded for his work. We came
also aware of the existence of the cooperative ALTER CONSO of Lyons, who is not a Amap, where about 10-15% of the turnover of the producer is paid to the cooperative to pay the salary of an employee for every 100 participants (currently 800 with 8 salaried to manage relationships between producers and consumers). The single
amappista pay 10 Euro per year, of which 5 are in Alliance, namely the structure of AMAP at the regional level, which also benefits from funding from the state and the region, which has the task of organizing (with 3 employees) training / courses for producers with information on organic farming etc., 1 Euro is AMAP organization at provincial level and 4 are to the local organizing any guided tours, cocktails, meetings, etc ... Since the
AMAP is an association, the general meeting is held once a year to determine what you want to change the organization (eg. This year the contract of vegetables is was changed from 6 months to 1 year duration). No other meetings or monthly meetings or anything else except in sporadic occasions, besides the fact that they meet at the point of withdrawal, such as visits to companies in our presence stimulus was set to make a nice picnic on the river and three interesting visits to as many producers in one day (!) in the park of Pilat.
Deliveries of products at the AMAP Condrieu are currently developed in this way:
WEEKLY: vegetables, bread
FORTNIGHTLY: cheese, chicken, eggs,
every 3 weeks: pork, sausages,
MONTHLY: honey, honey cake;
QUARTERLY lamb.
not have other producers or products in their basket if not sporadic (organic wine for example).
invitation, have occasional relations with other associations such as the fair trade workshop in particular to make it known, but not to make it integrate nell'AMAP, simply invite them to attend for amappisti their needs for fair trade goods.
environment and the territory where the applicant lives AMAP Condrieu is very varied, ranging from the Regional Park of Pilat, very nice and secure (to make wine of Condrieu fine and aromatic) with guided tours all over the world to raise awareness of biodiversity and practicing responsible tourism (tourism durable), a highly industrialized area with the presence of a hydroelectric plant, and even a nuclear and cd. "Couloir de la chimie" (= corridor chemistry, cmq. In decline), which characterizes the environmental impact of a protected area, however, trying to strike a difficult balance between environmental impact and perceived safety of the environment in which people they live. Living with the plant, however, normal for most of the population, being present on nuclear in France for the past 50 years.
On the other hand, the presence of the nuclear power in the territory has a number of benefits, and led to additional services that benefit the entire population (new libraries, kindergartens, public transport, recycling), a fact which makes it difficult to mobilize very deep in the fabric of society against the power plant.
However, there are environmental movements fighting against the central and who favor the development of renewable energy.
One of these movements is that of Grenelle de l'environment, which take their name from the movement born in France after Algerian independence, and had in a sense decided to "take stock" of the difficult situation that had arisen (due to the massive emigration of Algerians in France escaped from the independence of their country), sitting down and discussing the matter. From there, therefore, are called the Grenelle de l'Environment, aiming to take stock of the environment, discuss and evaluate the situation together. Another interesting association
are FAUCHEURS volontaires d'OGM (mowers volunteers) whose activities have helped to finance buying beer and fruit juices with their label bio, dealing with disturbing (and sometimes destroy) corn fields GMOs are allowed on an experimental basis by the European Community on their territory, albeit in very small portions, but dangerous for the environmental contamination. The BIO
mentality is widespread in France thanks to a discussion of national events on various tables and reported on the main means of communication, and awareness of the usefulness of bio for land conservation and protection of consumers is now generalized. What is missing is the production, because they lack the incentive and the will to direct state producers to conversion. The bio
in France today is the phase in which is emerging from the perceived niche product alternative, although not widespread at the mass level, everyone can see it as a tool supply and distribution, even in supermarkets (grand surfaces) with affordable prices.
The mentality is still yet to have the bio at all costs, even if coming from the opposite side of the world, yet there is a possibility crossed by some manufacturers to label products with the KM courses (labels km zero). There are still, however, the spread of products on tap.
Many organic products that come from Italy: pasta, rice, oil, jam, tomato sauce, even fresh vegetables.
leaves us after five days spent together pleasant and intense, with visits also to the beautiful, well-kept and hospitable Lyons and Vienne, with a wonderful reception of our gasisti amappisti of families and with the intention to strengthen the twinning and expand to other European countries, creating a network of partnerships between the various experiences of conscious consumers and in particular of course, between the French and Italian.
During the twinning which we expressed our terms and our experience and organization, we also reported the intention to use a local currency (SCEC) to make the products even more competitive than the local supermarkets.
This our experience and their methods.
In Italian gas groups are widespread throughout the national, each is autonomous and has its own rules, their own organization and method of distribution of goods that depend on the availability of facilities, from the accession of more or fewer people and the availability of time for people within the group.
for more info see the link: http://www.retegas.org/
MONTEMURLO:
Party on the gas project - SCEC http://www.youtube.com/ watch? v = ZrcAn7u_qrs
