🏭Food Track
A digital platform to transform your city in a inclusive and nourishing place.
What is this tool about and why is it relevant?
Food track is a digital and collaborative platform serves as a repository for collecting and documenting innovative growing techniques developed in Paris during the second half of the 19th century, commonly known as 'the French method.' These pioneering market gardening techniques are thoroughly documented and critically analyzed as a valuable heritage from the past. These techniques are viewed as adaptable and compatible with modern technologies, aiming to cultivate and support a new emergent community of urban farmers for a sustainable and productive Parisian metropolitan area.
The primary objective of this platform is to raise awareness about the challenges of urban agriculture, illustrating the transformations in the Paris region over the past two centuries and highlighting the disappearance of a rich agricultural heritage. By elucidating the connections between the expertise of the French method and contemporary urban agriculture practices, the Paris pilot project prompts reflection on the feasibility of replicating a model that has demonstrated its effectiveness in contrast to mass agribusiness.
When was launched the platform ?
The development of this platform was initiated at the outset of the experimentation process (1st sprint) of the Paris FCH initiative for two primary reasons: firstly, to harness the compelling narrative power of the French method, a significant cultural heritage, and to address the lack of knowledge about this historical period; and secondly, to serve as an operational tool supporting actions and initiatives associated with the Parisian FCH initiative, which primarily focuses on urban agriculture, food production, and transformation. Additionally, during the grand opening of the Parisian FCH on November 24, 2022, an exhibition showcasing the Food track platform and its contents was inaugurated at the Hub. This exhibition aimed to bring the digital platform's content into physical space, the Fab City Hub Paris, making it accessible to its broader community.
Target groups
The tool is designed for all actors interested and passionate about urban farming, heritage, and sustainable food production. However, the platform primarily aims to engage professionals, urban and peri-urban agricultural stakeholders, and food producers. These individuals are encouraged to actively contribute to expanding the collection of market gardening techniques by sharing their knowledge or providing feedback on this subject.
It could be also used as a research tools by academics that are intrested in similar topics.
Why this tool could be relevant (also) for your FCH ?
Heritage This tool, along with the way in which it has been developed and promoted by the Parisian local team, has contributed to forging a robust connection between a specific but often overlooked body of knowledge from the past and the contemporary needs and challenges faced by cities. Specifically, it addresses how modern cities can evolve into sustainable, inclusive, and productive environments for their citizens.
In particular, this historical knowledge has been traced back and revived to be transformed into a powerful tool for advancing circular and sustainable practices, thereby making it accessible to a wide audience.
Learning Ecosystems The platform has been conceptualized and designed as a repository of practical techniques from the past, with the intention of being tested and experimented with by contemporary food growers. The goal is to rehabilitate and enhance certain farming techniques and crop combinations in real-world agricultural settings.
As demonstrated by the Paris team during the experimentation process within CENTRINNO, this platform and its contents could serve as a potent support for organizing exhibitions and/or thematic panel discussions. These events would facilitate knowledge exchange about sustainable and innovative food production, as well as local and circular economies.
it could be also used as a support, or as a resourceful repository of hand on techniques invocational training course on urban agricultural technique, as for example the Agriculture XYZ vocational training course organised by the parisian pilot team.
Local Outcomes 👍
The launch and improvements of the Foodtack platform allowed the local team in Paris to obtain the following outcomes :
→ it contributed to create an active community of interested and engaged urban food producers for sharing and make availables innovative and sustainable practices and techniques from the past for improving contemporary urban agriculture.
→ it restored the idea that cities could be productive and inclusive places with the capacity to nourish their citizen combining innovative techniques from the past with contemporary technologies to tackle contemporary challenges.
→ it supported and enriched the cultural programme of the FCH in Paris through the organisation of events, exhibitions and panel discussion revolving around topic such as heritage, urban agriculture and food system using the platform and the work connected as a starting point.
Organisational Practices
The use of this tool within the Parisian team and their journey toward FCH contributed to the following changes in organisational practices each of them may relate to some of the three foundational aspects of a FCH: Vision , Community and Infrastructure.
OP N. 1- Activating interactions and facilitating connections and collaborations among the different actors active in urban environments
OP N. 2- Access and connection to information, communities, projects and initiatives related to the local distributed creative and productive ecosystems
OP N. 4- Engaging with and creating new institutions through experimentation and prototyping of diverse assemblages of actors and functions
OP N. 9 - Create awareness around convivial forms of innovation, manufacturing capabilities, creative citizenship and social connections
OP N. 10 - Multi-layered coordination combining physical spaces and facilities, with digital communication for diverse communities
Key Steps
Find here a list of suggested steps shared by the Paris team for you to follow if you want to set up a platform similar to Food Track .
Summary Table
Characteristics | |
---|---|
Main Purpose | Organise collective thinking and knowledge about “French method” techniques for the development of current urban agriculture. |
Difficulty | Medium |
Duration | - |
Facilitator I Participants | F= 3 P=as much as possible |
Setting | Hybrid |
Contact | |
Tagging System |
Do you want to know more?
Here some useful links that you can look at if you want to deepen your knwoledge about Food Track and the work behind this tool :
→ Read the following article written by David Colliaux about the research work on the French Method that highly contributed to develop the Food Track platform and make accessible forgotten knowledge
→ you can have a look to this two platforms that have highly inspired the development of the Food Track platform :
1) the Paleo-Energetique platform developed by Atelier 21
2) the Living Archive platform developed by AHK within CENTRINNO
Last updated