“Let’s make Ecology and Economy rhyme” could be the slogan of Christian Estrosi to characterize the action of his third term. While a strong wind is driving the green economy and, politically speaking, the sails of environmentalists who see themselves as its appointed interpreters, the Mayor of Nice distinguishes himself from those who go with the flow and claims “positive ecology” against “negative economics” that leads to inaction. In other words, he chooses the pragmatism of action over the dogmatism of uniform thinking which indulges in rhetoric but goes nowhere, and he deflects the accusations of being a “concrete spreader” with regard to the OIN of the Plaine du Var and more generally the metropolitan area.
Yesterday, in a videoconference, Christian Estrosi, wearing the dual hats of Mayor of Nice and President of the metropolis (the distinction between the two increasingly tiresome roles which intertwine and tend to overlap), wanted to tackle a topic of vast scope, that of the food system, and in particular, the production and consumption of local quality products.
Alongside the new “green” guru, Dr. Richard Chemla, he wanted to give this issue somewhat exaggerated importance: “COVID-19 and the Alex storm are two new indicators of the challenges of our time, in terms of supply, nutrition, and independence. Ensuring food security and sovereignty at the territorial level is part of the essential measures to face these crises and recover more quickly.”
Well, when the time comes for assessments or evaluations, many things can be said about the shortcomings, except that the French and the people of Nice lacked food products.
The analysis made by the Mayor/President is pertinent: “this food resilience starts with agricultural production. 2% is the average food autonomy level of French territories today, that is, our rate of local product consumption.” The attractive goal: “I want this food project to help us improve this rate through concrete measures.”
How to achieve it? “At the level of the Metropolis, we didn’t wait for these crises to engage in a new agricultural and land policy that safeguards our agricultural lands, enhances fallow lands, and establishes new farms to develop short supply chains,” stated Christian Estrosi before listing a number of upcoming actions.
A support budget for agriculture of 18 million euros per year to acquire agricultural plots and help municipalities buy land in order to set up new farms, the creation of an AGRICULTURAL TEST SPACE in the Plaine du Var, which will be the incubator for young farmers, similar to the CEEI installed in the Plaine du Var for start-ups, and also a job creation tool,
Meals for Nice’s children through the Central Kitchen of the City of Nice will include 30% of fruits and vegetables sourced from short supply chains, 1 fully ORGANIC meal per week, the banning of plastic from the entire production process of the meals up to reheating in restaurants five years ahead of the EGALIM law. Also, starting January 2021, the seasonality of fruits and vegetables served in canteens will be implemented and for the 2023 school year, the proposal of a vegetarian meal daily on request.
Finally, at La Baronne, the new National Interest Market will equip farmers and wholesalers with a modern and efficient economic development tool by the end of 2023, on an 18-hectare site.
“These tools are made available for you, for the agricultural world, to support rural areas, to enable our soil’s permeability, to avoid urbanization, and to create new productions within our region,” proclaimed Christian Estrosi.
The conclusion? “This food project is not just another consultation body: it is our common tool to make our territory an example of a prosperous and sustainable food system.”
Subscribed and signed, time for action.
