A circuit anchored on a farm, from seed to plate
In October, in Payra-sur-l’Hers (Aude), more than 150 participants gathered at Jean Gaubert’s farm for the day “Cereals and legumes in sharing”. Designed as a space for collective intelligence, this meeting brought together farmers, researchers, students, and citizens around short circuits of production, processing, and consumption. Practical workshops, collective cooking, digging a storage silo, creating educational tools, and an open forum addressed key issues: preservation of local varieties, grain storage, value in short circuits, and collective dynamics at the regional level. Co-constructed with the participants, the program highlighted the importance of exchanging knowledge and experiences to strengthen food diversity and the resilience of agricultural systems. “We tried to think like a seed, without getting a headache,” summarizes Dominique Desclaux, INRAE researcher – DIASCOPE / DiPSO.
An itinerant biking circuit for open science
In November, a second event offered another way to circulate knowledge. The day “We ride for Open Science” brought together around twenty participants to bike through the roads of Minervois, meeting local initiatives that value often overlooked cereals and legumes. “We visited a farmers’ market, an artisanal bakery, an agroforestry farm, and a storage cooperative on a 65 km route,” says Dominique Desclaux. This itinerant format on a gentle mobility was greatly appreciated for its conviviality. It facilitated direct exchanges between citizens, researchers, and economic actors, while showcasing local sectors.
DIVINFOOD and LOCASTOCK: participatory research in action
Carried by INRAE and its partners, the projects DIVINFOOD (Horizon 2020) and LOCASTOCK (ANR) are based on a participatory research approach involving researchers, farmers, stakeholders in the sectors, and citizens. DIVINFOOD aims to promote food diversity from so-called “minor” species and varieties, sometimes threatened with extinction, while LOCASTOCK explores storage and valorization solutions for grains adapted to short circuits and ecological transition issues. By placing field actors at the heart of knowledge production, these projects contribute to building more diversified, sustainable food systems rooted in the territories.
