Blog 20 May 2021

ROUL'CONTACT and CUISINE RECUP' bringing a territory to life!

A social project in the Hérault region (Southern France), working closely with locals!

David LOPEZ

[Translation : EPALE France]

Imagine the scent of the typical Languedoc landscape, the sun, the song of the cicadas, the wind along the banks of the Hérault! It all sounds like a holiday. And yet, an association named "Terre Contact" (www.terre-contact.com) works every day to ensure that the lives of the inhabitants are more supportive and collaborative and that solutions to social difficulties exist, with the goal of making life better. They ensure that the postcard image does not mask a harsher reality.

1. BRINGING A TERRITORY TO LIFE

For the past 4 years, ROUL'CONTACT has been parking a truck every fortnight in the heart of a village. Five villages are involved. They represent about 4500 inhabitants. The smallest has 475 inhabitants, the largest 1400. These locations were decided after consultation with the local town halls and inhabitants. Meetings with local associations were also held.

The truck is parked with its fruit and vegetable stalls, entertainment for children, a café for adults, cooking/knitting workshops, and more. The truck has been fitted out to allow people to go inside to buy products at 10% of their original price if they qualify for social welfare, or at a "regular" but "cheap" price for all inhabitants. The idea is to progress from being a social grocery shop to one that is for everyone, and to bring life to the village.

In each village, about 25 people are covered by social welfare, but in the year before COVID, 2,000 people visited the truck. Demand is growing strongly, from people in the villages who want to do their shopping and spend time around the café to talk and meet others. The health crisis has put a damper on social mixing. The greatest demand came from people in contact with social services, who are more isolated and therefore in more need of support.

ROUL'CONTACT is financed by the local municipalities, the Hérault department, the government, the Caisse d'Allocations Familiales and has been supported by the Fondation de France. The purchase of the truck was co-financed by a European LEADER programme.

By observing the evolution of requests and needs, the two employees of ROUL'CONTACT, the volunteers of the association, and the inhabitants came up with the idea of CUISINE RECUP'.

2. CUISINE RECUP’

The truck obtains supplies from the Food Bank and from donations brought in by local supermarkets. Gradually, it was noted that some products were becoming outdated and going to waste. In September 2020, Stéphanie arrived as a cook to process food that was at risk of going to waste. And so, from then on, these food items became ready-made meals, prepared in trays, which could be kept for 3 days (official restaurant rules). In the future, these trays will be offered to the two categories of people described above when the truck passes by. For the time being, they are reserved for the social grocery shop.

The meals are offered at 30% of the market price, i.e. €2.70 per kilo.

For Stéphanie and Claire, the director of Terre Contact, cooking changes the relationship with others considerably. People in need feel that they can live like "everyone else".

The number of meals fluctuates depending on which products go out of date. But also through this project, contacts have been made with local producers in order to have access to certain products (organic bread, local and organic fruit and vegetables, etc.)

David Lopez: Stéphanie, tell us how you went from being an established restaurateur to becoming a cook in this social project? I know that you were running a catering business that you wanted to be accessible to as many people as possible.

Stéphanie Larroque: I have a diploma in pastry making and experience as a chef. I was running a take-away business selling organic and local products. I was based near Terre-Contact. I liked the idea of the association, I met people during meals and visits, and we created bonds. At the same time, the idea of profitability and developing my business bothered me. Indeed, in order to expand permanently, I had to either increase the prices or reduce the quantities in the dishes I prepared. For me, food is the basis of social life. Eating should be a right for everyone. So when this opportunity to get involved in the project came up, I didn't hesitate, even if there is a risk of instability.

There is clear evidence of links being forged, objectives being put in place, and TERRE-CONTACT has always been attentive to the life of the territory, to the demands of the citizens, but also in anticipation, faithful to its values and to the dynamics created by the volunteers and employees. For these reasons, Claire and Stéphanie envisaged possible future projects.

3. WHAT’S NEXT? TRAINING and INSERTION.

There is no shortage of ideas. Some will materialise and some will not. In order to respond to two ideas: reinforcing access for all AND developing a "commercial activity" with the truck and also in connection with the association's head office, in order to provide answers to employment difficulties, training is possible. Training courses of 2 to 3 weeks are already organised with the agricultural high school of Gignac. Cooking courses for social welfare beneficiaries or any other public are envisaged.

In the long term, the goal is to create an integration company and to train people. The needs are immense, as are the demands for useful work.

In our discussion, I mentioned precise professional frameworks, the skills sought. With interest, but also pragmatism, Claire and Stéphanie highlighted the fundamentals of non-formal education, focusing on the history, the previous practices of people. Experience gained is a gateway to more successful social inclusion.

By way of provisional conclusions, we could have gone on forever, reflecting and imagining a local future, over a traditional aperitif in the South.

Claire and Stephanie also did research in other regions. Ideas for community kitchens, redistribution and participatory training are emerging here and there, in Lodève, Voiron and no doubt in other countries.

If your steps lead you to the Hérault Valley, or if you simply want to exchange: