Les Jardins de Cocagne, Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland · Operator: レ・ジャルダン・ド・コカーニュ（協同組合／société coopérative）
Overview
A producer–consumer cooperative started in Geneva in 1978 by the agronomist Reto Cadotsch and others, growing organic vegetables year-round for its member households under a model of agriculture contractuelle de proximité: members pay in advance to underwrite production and receive the harvest as a weekly bag. It is known as a forerunner of community-supported agriculture in Europe. In 2008 organisations working on the same model formed the Fédération romande d'agriculture contractuelle de proximité (FRACP), which had around 20 members.
Citizen participation
Members buy a social share in the cooperative and pay an annual subscription in return for a weekly bag (cornet) of vegetables, with production costs covered by member contributions. Since 1994 the cooperative has also run market stands at Plainpalais and Rive in Geneva.
Operating model
A cooperative model in which member social shares and annual subscriptions fund year-round production and distribution of organic vegetables. The gardeners are salaried employees, and the cooperative states it provides decent working conditions; it also hosts placements and work experience for people seeking employment. It has held the Bio Suisse Bourgeon label since 1991 and goes beyond the label's requirements by avoiding plastic mulch films.
Impact
The same arrangement has run for more than forty years, delivering weekly vegetables to around 400 member households as of 2014 while sustaining 13 jobs including eight gardeners, and it propagated widely enough in French-speaking Switzerland to produce a federation (FRACP). Participation, however, requires buying a social share and paying an annual subscription up front, and the source consulted contains no data on which income groups this reaches. It also records no operating difficulties or criticisms, so there is little external material with which to test why the model has lasted.
Land tenure
Crops
- organic vegetables
- 有機野菜
Scale
ジュネーヴ州のセゼニャン（アヴュジー）、カルティニー、オーモルト（アヴュリー）、ランドゥシーに栽培地を持つ。2014年時点で従業員13名（うち園丁8名）、会員世帯約400。
In the media（1）
Web articles and features that cover this case.
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