AV Foodlink
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Timings and Location(s)
The receiving outlet is located at the service entrance of the Pour Tous Distribution Centre / Solar Kitchen, and delivieries can be made there every morning before 10 am.
The persons in charge are Guna and Isabelle, along with AVFG staff Sumathi and Lakshmi.
For further information email: Foodlink@auroville.org.in.or call 9486144072.
General Information and Background
AV Foodlink was set up in 1996-7, concurrent with the opening of the Solar Kitchen building, through efforts of the coordinators of the Farm Group at that time (Jeff, Tomas & Isha). The aim was to begin through Solar Kitchen meals preparation to stimulate a collective focus for utilizing produce grown on AV Farms, and the room was allocated (what is now the Solar Kitchen administrative office) for that purpose. Office, data and produce coordination was initiated there by Sumathi (who had been working and living at Aurogreen Farm with her husband and 2 children), Isha, and later Lakshmi. To begin a database on farms production a grant was secured, allocated by Stichting de Zaaier, and the progam designed and implemented over a period of 2 years.
Collecting produce from AV farmers, packing and "branding" - This is what the activities have been since the beginning (but including researching distribution and pricing, growing patterns, consumer patterns - the early name was "AV Farms Collection & Distribution Centre"), branching out into coordination of materials on agriculture, seed saving and acquisition (the original Seed bank project), student/volunteers coordination, value-added research, etc.
The products are made available through a number of Auroville outlets and (in the future) also beyond AV. Rice and vegetables are provided for use in the meals preparation in the communal Solar Kitchen, and for distribution among schools. Fruits and grains are preserved and packed at two Auroville food-processing units and at some of the farms, which also produce a range of jams, pickles and chutneys themselves.
Sumathi has continued over the years, assisted by Lakshmi and later by Guna and more recently Isabelle. John Lucksted, Farm Group coordinator up until 2008, also helped in the shifting of the collection & distribution interface when a way was found to integrate that into the New Pour Tous receiving area.
As the receiving centre is now adjacent to the Pour Tous Distribution Centre (PTDC), organic locally-grown produce is supplied directly for the availability of Aurovilian participants in the PTDC scheme.
The Foodlink price list (updated February 2010) for fruits, vegetables and milk products is available here:Image:FoodlinkPricesFeb2010.xls
Members and Affiliations
Foodlink was created by the AV Farm Group, which is the communication platform for the farmers of Auroville. The AVFG secretariat gathers production and pricing statistics monthly. Through the efforts of the ISP (Integral Sustainability Platform) in 2009-10, a "Food Sector" was created to review the needs and ideals of all who work in food-related activities. From this a new group was formed: the ASAP (means? mailto: asapauroville@gmail.com), which works with Foodlink to expand its activities and outreach.
Another of Foodlink's collaborations are the Green Center and the Auroville Saturday Market.
Aims and Objectives
A recent report on the AVFG (2004) shows that distribution and central management of farming in Auroville will need funding and support, so that the individual effort of the farmers may bear fruit, as parts of surplus harvests are lost, due to lack of a common storage and marketing outlets.
