During the 2020 health crisis, the city of Marseille saw a sudden increase of interest in short-circuit forms of fresh fruit and vegetable distribution, such as the vegetable baskets provided by the associations for the preservation of peasant agriculture (Association pour le maintien de l’agricuture paysanne (AMAPs)). This system uses a subscription model with rules established by a “solidarity” contract between producer and member: the latter agrees to purchase a weekly basket of vegetables, whose contents are chosen by the producer, for a duration of one year. The risks of production are thus considered as being “shared.” What made this system attractive during the pandemic? Who were the new AMAP members? The producers were able to maintain the distribution of “vegetable baskets” during the period of lockdown, even if they sometimes took place in the interstices of the control system. Once the health crisis was over, this increase in urban consumer interest in direct forms of provisioning seems to have fallen back to pre-pandemic levels, forcing producers into new forms of adjustment. Why did this interest diminish after the pandemic? And what transformations in the system occurred due to increased demand during the pandemic? Taking into account both farmer and AMAP member perspectives, this chapter will analyze the changes in the distribution system of “vegetable baskets,” during and after the health crisis, and the forms of adjustment to the increasing and then decreasing demand.

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The Baskets of the Crisis in Marseille (France)

  • Valeria Siniscalchi

摘要

During the 2020 health crisis, the city of Marseille saw a sudden increase of interest in short-circuit forms of fresh fruit and vegetable distribution, such as the vegetable baskets provided by the associations for the preservation of peasant agriculture (Association pour le maintien de l’agricuture paysanne (AMAPs)). This system uses a subscription model with rules established by a “solidarity” contract between producer and member: the latter agrees to purchase a weekly basket of vegetables, whose contents are chosen by the producer, for a duration of one year. The risks of production are thus considered as being “shared.” What made this system attractive during the pandemic? Who were the new AMAP members? The producers were able to maintain the distribution of “vegetable baskets” during the period of lockdown, even if they sometimes took place in the interstices of the control system. Once the health crisis was over, this increase in urban consumer interest in direct forms of provisioning seems to have fallen back to pre-pandemic levels, forcing producers into new forms of adjustment. Why did this interest diminish after the pandemic? And what transformations in the system occurred due to increased demand during the pandemic? Taking into account both farmer and AMAP member perspectives, this chapter will analyze the changes in the distribution system of “vegetable baskets,” during and after the health crisis, and the forms of adjustment to the increasing and then decreasing demand.