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For 20 years the Équiterre family farmer network has cared for the health of Quebec families through its organic food baskets. This simple idea has proved to be extremely successful—and increasingly so. The model may have been copied and adapted, but it has never been equalled.
“Équiterre family farmers are pioneers of the organic food basket concept and have developed real expertise in organic farming over the past 20 years,” says Isabelle St-Germain, Équiterre’s Senior Director.
Today, the family farmer network counts 122 participating farms and supplies over 52,000 citizens across Quebec with fresh local organic food! This spring, as well as welcoming 19 new farms (more than twice the number of farms that have joined in the last four years), the network has significantly increased the number of subscriptions available: from 14,500 to over 17,000—a 26% increase.
The idea took root in 1995, when Équiterre’s co-founders approached the Cadet Roussel farm in Montérégie about supplying fresh organic vegetables each week during the summer to some 50 families in Mile End, Montreal, who would pay for their produce in advance. Following this pilot project, six farms joined the citizen-led movement to establish a family farmer network in 1996. Hats off to these visionaries and to the next generation, who are replenishing the ranks of family farmers and taking over the helm. And hats off to all you engaged citizens for this unique eco-friendly community food supply model! To your health!
Subscriptions opened recently and will remain so until all have been sold. Sign up soon—they fill up quickly.
Signing up is easy
- Go to paniersbio.org and find the drop-off point or points nearest to your home or workplace.
- Choose the family farmer offering the best type of basket for you.
- Sign up directly with the farmer by paying in advance, or in instalments, for the whole delivery season. (Spring subscriptions are available with a few farmers, as are summer-fall and winter subscriptions.)
- Pick up your basket each week from a friendly family farmer who will even give you recipe ideas for enjoying the seasonal produce in your basket!
Click here to read the press release issued for the family farmers’ 20th anniversary.
