I am 45 years old and grew up in Nice, but I would go back to Saint Martin en Vésubie every weekend to visit my grandparents. I worked in retail for 25 years, most recently as an area manager at Carrefour, where I started my career in 2001. In 2007, I ended up in Mouans-Sartoux by chance, the commune that was pioneering sustainable food in the department. This gradually led me to develop my plan for a career change and a new life.

In 2009, my eldest daughter was born, and the following year, the town purchased land on which to build the MEAD (Maison d'Education à l'Alimentation Durable, or Centre for Education in Sustainable Food). Having searched for local producers to supply organic vegetables to school canteens, the town decided to produce them itself. Today, 85% of the vegetables consumed in school canteens are sourced from the local authority. My other two daughters were born in 2014. They all eat organic, locally sourced produce at school and visit the municipal farm. My wife and I have been teaching them from a young age about the impact our actions have on the environment. They already have an eco-friendly streak! The municipality's policy made me reflect on the purpose of my job, which essentially involved selling as much as possible to generate maximum profit for the company. I used to leave for work at 6 a.m. and not get home until 7 p.m., and I felt like I was missing out on seeing my children grow up. I was spending my days doing things I didn't enjoy.

Then lockdown happened. I decided to create a shared vegetable garden on a strip of land in a car park opposite my house. Gilles Pérole invited me to join the 'Citoyen nourrit la ville' (Citizens Feed the City) initiative. This network of amateur gardeners was established in 2021 with the aim of growing vegetables and fostering relationships between citizens. The project has grown, with numerous gardens and vegetable patches still flourishing throughout the municipality and citizen participation continuing to increase.

I started offering free gardening classes and joined the community beekeeping project — perhaps the seed had already been planted by my grandfather and uncle, who were beekeepers. Sylvain Bourdon is training us, and thanks to Mouans-Sartoux Town Hall, everything was set up quickly and at no cost. Today, we have 20 participants and 20 hives. I love it; it's fascinating. Our association, L'Abeille de Mouans (The Bee of Mouans), donates part of the harvest to the village's social grocery store, where it can be sold at an affordable price. Our community fights every day to keep this virtuous circle alive, but it's a fragile balance. What's happening around us is frightening; we're witnessing the rise of powers that don't share our vision at all. Their approach is short-term — the opposite of the projects being developed in Mouans-Sartoux. However, this model can be applied anywhere.

While talking to Gilles Pérole, I seized the opportunity to enrol on a training course to become a farmer at the Mouans-Sartoux farm. One of three positions will become available in the coming months. The salary won't be the same, of course. But how can I justify telling my daughters that they should do a job they love and find meaningful, when I don't do that myself? I want to set an example for them.

Today, I consider myself rich because I can afford to eat healthily. However, this is not the case for everyone, and I would like to see this change in the future.

I left my job at Carrefour in September 2024 to start the BP REA training course at Campus Vert d'Azur in Antibes. The course involves a lot of theory and specialised teaching from around twenty lecturers, many of whom are farmers, as well as practical application, which varies from case to case.

We learn techniques in the classroom and then apply them in the field. I would like to get my hands in the soil more often, as I feel that's the best way to learn. Here, we learn about soil chemistry and crop rotation, but above all, we learn how to become a farm manager. In the Alpes-Maritimes, the most challenging aspect is acquiring land due to its high purchase price, but fortunately, an increasing number of municipalities are renting land to farmers at reasonable rates. This, combined with subsidies from the DJA or AIME, provides valuable support when starting a business.

Before taking the plunge at the beginning of the year, I had never considered becoming a market gardener, and I regret that no one at school informs young people about the possibility of pursuing this career. According to the latest World Economic Forum, it will be one of the most in-demand careers by 2030.

Nicolas