A model of biointensive farming to transform global agriculture

Brut America

"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.

Transcript

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

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