WIN-WIN RELATIONSHIPS: MEETING THE GOURMET CHEFS WITH ORGANIC PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS IN BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

Food safety and quality are a real concern for conscious consumers worldwide who seek products with environmental and social standards in their production. Some of these standards have become cause of economic and social... [ view full abstract ]

Food safety and quality are a real concern for conscious consumers worldwide who seek products with environmental and social standards in their production. Some of these standards have become cause of economic and social exclusion from exquisite value chains. In order to create an alternative standardization for organic products, organized producers have created a social certification processes such as the Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) which is more inclusive with the participation of all actors of the organic value chains. Familia de la Tierra is an umbrella farmer’s organization in Bogota, Colombia that groups sixteen organizations that produce organic products in the country. Utopia farm is the star farm of Familia de la Tierra which is characterized by producing organic seeds, vegetables, and fish. This organic production is controlled and monitored by the PGS committee that certifies the farms through a participatory certification. In the short organic chain of Familia de la Tierra, product and process upgrading were identified that helped to positioning Familia de la Tierra´s products into organic commercial channels at Bio-Shops, organic basket distribution, private school purchasing program and gourmet restaurants. Gourmets’ restaurant played an important role for Familia de la Tierra because they promoted their organic production into the specialty dishes they prepare for conscious consumers and they are also part of the PGS committee. In a globalized world the modern agriculture rules the food production. Colombia is not the exception, multinationals standards the agriculture imposing farmers to buy genetic modified seeds and the cocktail of chemicals to produce them causing environmental and health problems. In this context, Familia de la Tierra surges as a good environmental, conscious and inclusive example for organic production in Colombia and stresses importance of the Cuisine Approach in order to promote and sell their products directly to intermediaries and consumers.