As you probably know by now, since January (2022), we have decided to support a different association/foundation/cause every month.

This month, we have chosen to focus on agricultural land issues.

Buying from HOPSTORE means buying certified organic products, but not only that !

What is the Terre de Liens Foundation?

Terre de Liens was born in 2003 from the convergence of several movements linking popular education, organic and biodynamic agriculture, ethical finance, the solidarity economy and rural development.

To empower citizens and farmers to mobilize and take action on the ground, the movement has developed new tools to halt land loss and facilitate access to agricultural land for new farmers. These tools are accessible to everyone, so that each person can play a meaningful role in shaping the future of our farms and agriculture.

Why is this important?

Access to agricultural land is an issue that concerns all citizens. Without farmland, there are no farmers, no local agriculture that respects the environment and fosters community. For Terre de Liens, the erosion of our agricultural wealth, the loss of biodiversity, and the decline of rural areas are not inevitable: the future can offer many other prospects for land and small-scale farming. If we commit the necessary resources…

Did you know that?

More than 100 farms disappear every week in France, mainly to the benefit of ever-larger agribusinesses.
1300 hectares of agricultural and natural areas are covered with concrete and asphalt every week.
Land prices have jumped by almost 40% in ten years , forcing young farmers to take on lifelong debt to buy their plots of land.
Just over 6.6% of agricultural land was farmed organically in 2017, while France has committed to 20% organic land by 2020. As a result, there is a reliance on imports to meet growing consumer demand…

The Terre de Liens movement is rooted in these questions: what have we done with the land, this common good? How, in just a few hundred years, could we have swept away millennia of predominantly collective, if not communal, land management? How, in such a context, can we enable new generations to ensure the continuation of agriculture and the economic revitalization of rural areas?

To propose a different horizon…

The future of our rural areas depends on rebuilding a network of activities and social connections that revitalize the countryside. Local agriculture, with its strong local roots, is central to this dynamic: it relies on human-scale farms and fosters relationships between citizens and the farmers who produce our food.

But before any agricultural project, there is the land… and that is why Terre de Liens has invented solutions to free up agricultural land, rehabilitate its status as a common good and make it a place open to the creation of new economic and ecological activities.

In practical terms, how does it work?

An association network mobilized throughout France: it welcomes and supports farmers in their access to land, informs and brings the public together around land and agricultural issues, and anchors the Terre de Liens project in a citizen and local dynamic.

La Foncière , a socially responsible investment company open to the public, allows everyone to invest their savings in projects with high social and environmental value. The accumulated capital is used to purchase farms and establish diversified agricultural activities. La Foncière leases these farms to farmers committed to local, organic, and small-scale agriculture.

The Foundation , a recognized public-benefit organization, is authorized to receive bequests and donations of farms. It also purchases land at risk of losing its agricultural use. In all cases, the Foundation guarantees environmentally friendly farming practices on this land over the very long term. Terre de Liens thus contributes to the next generation of farmers and facilitates intergenerational transfer by helping new farmers get established.

It is this combined action that allows:

to acquire agricultural land and thus prevent its disappearance,
to ensure its long-term preservation through ecological and responsible use,
to lease these lands to farmers for organic or small-scale production.
to share the results of these experiences with all interested parties,
to invent new responses to the agricultural land crisis and to bring together citizens, decision-makers and agricultural stakeholders around these perspectives.

Are you also concerned about these issues and would like to be part of the movement? More information here .