Community supported agriculture, farm shops, organic markets and food co-ops.
In a community supported farm, households pay the farmer in advance for a season and share the harvest, in good years and bad. Farm shops and markets are an easier start, and there you can ask the grower how the food was produced.
Bingenheimer Saatgut is a German seed company that sells only open-pollinated, organically grown seed of vegetables, herbs and flowers, to home gardeners and market gardeners. Plants from this seed…
Alternative to seeds from agrochemical groups, bred for industrial farming and sold as hybrids
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An AMAP (association pour le maintien d’une agriculture paysanne) is a group of households that buys part of a nearby farm’s harvest in advance, for a season, and collects a basket each week at a…
Alternative to supermarket vegetables bought at prices that squeeze farmers
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MIRAMAP is the national network of the AMAP (associations pour le maintien d’une agriculture paysanne), groups of consumers who sign a contract with a local farmer, pay for the harvest in advance and…
Alternative to supermarket fruit and vegetables bought from industrial farms and central purchasing
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The Netzwerk Solidarische Landwirtschaft is the German association of community supported agriculture (Solawi): farms whose members pay a monthly share of the farm’s costs and get a share of the…
Alternative to supermarket vegetables from heated greenhouses and long-distance imports
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The BZfE Saisonkalender is the seasonal calendar for fruit and vegetables of Germany’s Federal Centre for Nutrition, free as an app and as a poster, showing when each kind is harvested in Germany and…
Alternative to buying strawberries in winter and other out-of-season produce flown or trucked in
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A cooperative supermarket belongs to its customers: each member buys shares, works a few hours a month in the shop and buys food there at lower margins than in ordinary supermarkets. Only members can…
Alternative to supermarket chains that set prices and margins for their shareholders
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Open Food Facts is a free, collaborative database of food products run by a French non-profit association: volunteers scan barcodes and photograph packaging, and the app and website then show the…
Alternative to the marketing on food packaging, and commercial food-scanning apps
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VRAC organises group buying of organic, fair-trade and local food in low-income neighbourhoods of France and sells it at cost price. Members order and collect their goods, in their own containers, at…
Alternative to discount supermarkets as the only option in low-income neighbourhoods
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Incredible Edible is a movement of local groups that grow vegetables, fruit and herbs in public places, for anyone to pick for free. It started in Todmorden, in northern England, in 2008.
Alternative to buying every vegetable at the supermarket and to ornamental-only public planting
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The Slow Food Genussführer is a German restaurant guide of about 450 places chosen by Slow Food volunteers for regional, seasonal cooking without convenience products, published as a book and an app…
Alternative to sponsored restaurant guides and star rankings
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Bienvenue à la ferme is the network of French farmers who sell their produce directly or welcome visitors, and its free website maps them: farm shops, farmers’ markets, producers’ shops, “drives…
Alternative to supermarket fruit, vegetables and meat that pass through several middlemen
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Karte von morgen (“map of tomorrow”) is an open map of sustainable initiatives and businesses: organic shops, repair cafés, community gardens, cooperatives, sharing places, places to eat and more, in…
Alternative to commercial map apps that list whoever pays for advertising first
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Les Frigos Solidaires is a French association that sets up self-service fridges outside shops, associations, universities, schools and companies, where anyone can leave food or take some, free and…
Alternative to throwing away food that is still good
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Social grocery shops (épiceries solidaires) sell food, fresh produce and hygiene products to households on low incomes at 10 to 30 % of the usual price. Customers choose on the shelves and pay at the…
Alternative to food parcels, for households on a small income who want to choose their own shopping
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The Association Végétarienne de France (AVF) is a French non-profit that helps people eat less meat or none at all, with free leaflets on nutrition, recipes, cooking workshops, the Défi Veggie…
Alternative to eating meat every day without knowing how to cook without it
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Écotable is a French label and guide for restaurants that cook with organic, local and seasonal produce, with three levels from “transition started” to “an example for all” and a map of about 300…
Alternative to restaurant guides that say nothing about where the food comes from
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Food Made Good is the sustainability standard of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, a British organisation that rates restaurants, cafés and caterers on sourcing, society and environment and…
Alternative to restaurant guides that rate the food but not the sourcing
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Too Good To Go is a free app that sells the day’s unsold food from bakeries, supermarkets, restaurants and caterers as “surprise bags”, at about a third of their stated value. Customers book and pay…
Alternative to bakeries and shops throwing away the day’s unsold food
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Workaway is a website that connects travellers with hosts in more than 170 countries: the traveller helps a few hours a day and gets board and lodging in exchange. Hosts are families, farms, hostels…
Alternative to package holidays and paid accommodation when travelling for a long time
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Good food from farmers you know
Garden, seeds and biodiversity
Neighbourhood, community spaces and local networks
Nutrition advice and recipes
Shopping: online, marketplaces and local shops
Work and cooperative economy
Restaurants and food delivery
Waste, recycling and zero waste
Donations, volunteering and non-profits
Travel and tourism