"We want to replace mass agriculture with a mass of farmers"
A really small, but profitable farm. That's what Jean-Martin Fortier has founded in Quebec. And he wants to show that an agricultural revolution is possible. He talked to Brut nature.
A really small, but profitable farm. That's what Jean-Martin Fortier has founded in Quebec. And he wants to show that an agricultural revolution is possible. He talked to Brut nature.
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00:00The idea is to multiply the number of small farms.
00:02What we want is to replace mass agriculture
00:05by a mass of farmers who do a well-being agriculture.
00:09When you come to my farm, there are two things that people are absolutely captivated by.
00:33First, the beauty of the place.
00:36It's a place where there is a pond, ecological niches for flocks, for birds.
00:41There are vegetables that grow on every square meter.
00:44We have maximized the space of production.
00:47And it's also very small.
00:49It's about the size of a football field.
00:51And we succeed, even if the farm is on a small cultivated surface,
00:54so less than an hectare, we succeed in making a good living.
00:58We generate up to $100,000 in income per hectare of produced vegetables.
01:02It's a small but very profitable model, very efficient.
01:06And we manage to have an impact in our community.
01:09That's what was important.
01:22The element that makes our farm work well is that we don't have a tractor.
01:26So one hectare, four employees, more than 200 people we feed.
01:31So if we multiply this farm by 10,000,
01:34it would be an important contribution to employment,
01:37especially if it's employment in the region, especially if it's interesting employment.
01:41All the people who today are in a cubicle, are in a city,
01:46often, not all the time, but often it's jobs that are not interesting to them.
01:51That's also the nuance.
01:53It's us in our model of agriculture.
01:55We call it human scale agriculture.
01:58When I'm in the field, my day is to listen to the birds.
02:02It's to be with my colleagues.
02:04It's, as I said, to do applied ecology.
02:07But it's diversified.
02:09I'm going to pick carrots, I'm going to pick radishes.
02:12After that, I'm going to make a semi, I'm going to prepare the soil,
02:15I'm going to condition the vegetables.
02:17In my day, there is no monotony.
02:20It's because we have a diversified farm, because we have a small farm.
02:23We are always varying the tasks.
02:25And also to sell our vegetables directly,
02:28with people who come to thank us,
02:30who say thank you for the salad,
02:32thank you for the beautiful carrots,
02:34thank you for the beautiful work.
02:36All this in one day, in one week,
02:38makes sure that I find that my job is colorful,
02:41it's dynamic, it's pleasant, even if it's difficult,
02:44even if we work hard.
02:56I think it's a political act,
02:58to take, I was going to say the trees,
03:01but it's not that, to take the forks,
03:03to put on his rubber boots and go to the fields.
03:06Yes, it's the return forward.
03:08It's leading by example.
03:10It's stopping roasting,
03:12and doing the salons' Che Guevara,
03:14and saying to yourself, I have an impact,
03:16I contribute, I am an actor of change.
03:19I am a farmer.
03:21I am proud.
03:23I do a good job,
03:25and I contribute to a better world.
03:28And I think that's important.
03:30And that's the message we need to give,
03:32so that young people are interested,
03:34so that people take the step,
03:36and become agricultural revolutionaries.
03:38So we've come this far today,
03:40and it needs to accelerate.
03:42Often there are doubts that are raised about
03:44whether micro farms can feed the world,
03:47whether France can be fed by
03:49the multiplication of small farms,
03:51three things.
03:53First, already today, in the world,
03:55it's the family farms that feed the planet.
03:58All UN reports say so.
04:00So it's like a myth that it's
04:02the big industrial agriculture that feeds the world.
04:05Secondly, it's a false question.
04:08We don't care about feeding the world.
04:10What we want is to feed the community.
04:12What we want is to feed the local restaurant.
04:15What we want is to be part of the world.
04:19What we want is to be part of a bioco-op.
04:22So we need to stop seeing too much.
04:25It's one farm at a time.
04:27It's one community at a time.
04:29And thirdly, the model today is a pain in the ass.
04:34So we need to try something else.
04:37But what's beautiful,
04:39what carries me through my work,
04:41through my message,
04:43is that our micro-farm model
04:45is multiplying at an interesting rate.
04:48People apply the methods,
04:50apply the techniques, apply the ideas,
04:52in a model that allows several people to have a farm.
04:57That's what's beautiful.
04:59We can establish ourselves without having a machinery park.
05:02We can establish ourselves without having 50 hectares.
05:05We can rent a land.
05:06We can do agriculture in the city.
05:08When we work with manual tools,
05:10that's what makes the job accessible.
05:13What I predict is that in the near future,
05:16there will be what we call the tipping point,
05:19where former agrochemical farmers
05:23want to retire.
05:25No one wants to take over a farm that pollutes,
05:30a porcine farm that's not very interesting to manage.
05:36So all the young people who want to do ecological agriculture,
05:40eventually, I think our number will increase.
05:43And when there's a tipping point,
05:46I hope that politicians and elected officials
05:49will support this agricultural model.
05:52That's what I hope for,
05:54that's what I work for,
05:56and we need people in this mission.
06:10For more UN videos visit www.un.org