Les producteurs de grandes cultures dans le périurbain toulousain. Quelle insertion dans les territoires de la demande urbaine ?

Abstract

In France, suburban farming faces a paradox. The “urban demand” expressed by local authorities promotes locally grown food, specifically of fresh products, and demonstrates a concern for maintaining the quality and the accessibility of the nearby environment of the cities. The agricultural area is now better protected by the planning documents. However, a majority of the farms are dedicated to field cropping, not to fresh products. To overcome this opposition, this paper questions the embeddedness of field croppers in the urban space. We studied the relationship of field crops producers to their territory by distinguishing three dimensions in the role of place, following J.Agnew (1990). These dimensions were used as a guide for interviewing 15 field crops producers in the urban and suburban areas of Toulouse, the fourth largest French city. The qualitative analysis of the interviews reveals the specific suburban context of their activity in order to offer a better support and to develop new services and goods for the urban life.

Keywords

• agriculture
• perception
• suburb
• territory recomposition
• field crop
• Toulouse