Legal and political context

Content taken from the dossier “Food and regions: INRAE scientists in support of regional food projects”.

In response to the standardisation of the food industry, new public policies began to emerge in the 1980s to promote local agriculture and the link between produce and the terroir: the defence of local breeds and products of controlled origin, the notion of “pays”, then territorial contracts, etc. These are all signs of a desire to safeguard and develop local activities. At the turn of the millennium, numerous local initiatives were developed around the issue of short distribution channels. In 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture launched the National Food Programme (PNA). The challenges of local food production and regional development were then incorporated into national policy. The 2014 law on the future of agriculture, food and forestry created “territorial food projects”, a tool for strengthening and promoting food systems rooted in the territory. As part of the National Food Programme, they help to unite stakeholders around a shared territorial food project, responding to local social, environmental, economic and health issues. With these territorial food projects, the public authorities are aiming to strengthen local supply chains by putting agriculture and food back at the heart of the region.

In line with the objectives of the NAP, the territorial food projects initially focused on agriculture, land, short distribution channels and mass catering. The Covid crisis has helped to broaden the scope of the actions supported by the call for projects, so that by 2022 the issues of access to food and food insecurity will be given greater prominence. TAPs can be set up by any public or private not-for-profit organisation addressing food-related issues. Following the implementation of France Relance in 2021, the budget dedicated to the NAP call for projects has been multiplied by more than 3 compared with previous years. Since then, the number of TAPs has doubled with the launch of 151 additional TAPs. By the beginning of 2023, MASA had approved 387 PATs. Almost every department in France has at least one PAT or is in the process of developing one.

Science needs and contributions from INRAE

Content taken from the dossier “Food and territories: INRAE scientists in support of territorial food projects”.

With the intensification of agriculture, industrialisation and the development of trade on a global scale, food is becoming standardised. This standardisation has been accompanied by a loss of diversity in food production in each region. In the 1980s, the need to reconnect regions and their food systems began to emerge. INRAE scientists, who have been working for almost 20 years on the various aspects of agri-food systems, have been called upon to support these changes. From agricultural production methods to food processing techniques, and including the link between food products and terroirs, their work has made it possible to provide support with approaches that incorporate action research. 2014 saw the introduction of a new instrument for local food policy: Territorial Food Projects (TAPs), designed to bring agriculture and food back to local areas. The deployment of these projects is creating new opportunities for exchanges between scientists and stakeholders in the field. INRAE scientists are involved in the emergence, implementation and evaluation of these projects. This involvement feeds into the research, facilitating the continuum between issues in the field and research, and creating collaborations that in turn feed into local food projects. […]

In 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture launched the National Food Programme (PNA). The challenges of local food and regional development were then incorporated into national policy. The 2014 law on the future of agriculture, food and forestry created “territorial food projects”, a tool for strengthening and promoting food systems rooted in the local area. […] Local food project leaders and researchers are increasingly being called upon to collaborate in the diagnosis, implementation and management of projects. TAPs, which can include the different levels of agri-food systems, agricultural production, supply chains, food and health, etc., are linked to multiple fields of research and involve more and more INRAE departments. As a result, INRAE scientists are still involved in many partnership or participatory research projects linked to TAPs. These projects illustrate a three-pronged approach to research: upstream of public policy, through intimate involvement in the regions and the design of future paths; during the implementation of regional food projects, by making available the knowledge and tools produced; and by evaluating these policies. Their contributions can take a variety of forms: territorial diagnosis, methodological input, leading consultation and governance processes, etc. They have also helped to develop a wide range of tools, including local information systems, observatories and modelling and simulation tools, which provide support to local food project leaders. From commodity chain analysis to land-use planning issues, not forgetting diagnoses of food insecurity, the many tools can be used throughout the ‘life’ of the TAPs: when they are being drawn up, during their implementation and during the evaluation phase. In connection with their research work and their involvement in local areas, scientists have found themselves at the heart of, or associated with, a number of national networks and bodies – the national network of local food projects (RnPAT) or the ‘local food’ joint technology network (RMT) – as well as local ones: scientific councils, local food councils, etc. Their involvement in these networks has a dual purpose: for the research community, this position of active observers helps to foster links with issues in the field and to highlight the need for new knowledge. For public players, these bodies enable them to benefit from scientific support in the form of methods, tools, etc.