Link to Marché Gare website.

Marché Gare is an economic site of the food landscape transition. It’s a public service of the Metropole of Montpellier, and a representation of the strengths and capabilities of short circuit/chain food systems (SCFSs) and agro-ecological policies. Marché Gare promotes collective dynamism and diversification of the food chain. They share resources, costs, and risks amongst the players in the food chain, and involve diverse products, sellers, resources, and prices, which strengthens the resilience of the local food system and its key players. It serves as a central location for folks selling at markets (re-sellers) to buy food in bulk at lower prices, which can sometimes be locally sourced, (Charlotte Minnicks’ field notes 3/12) and for businesses to use resources, like the test kitchens, to try new practices at a lower, shared risk.

Gwenaëlle Rolland (left) and Professor Soldin (right) discussing Marché Gare. Pictured in the background is the set-up, featuring the distribution sites and refrigerator storage site. (Eliette Whittaker, March 13th, 2025)


We began our tour of Marché Gare with Olivier Lauro, the location director, and Gwenaëlle Rolland, the head of supply structuring. They provided us with a background and personal insight on the industry. Lauro commented on the political mission of Marché Gare, critiquing the current food industry that wedges profits inbetween food and people, the environment, and the entire food system. He emphasized that Marché Gare works to combat this, and that they want to instill the values of a SCFS into Montpellier to provide sustainability and well-being for its people, economy, and environment. He highlighted the political characteristics of food– that transforming food landscapes is inherently political and has the ability to make massive political, social, and economic change.


Our next stop of our tour took us into the sellers market of Marché Gare. We visited on a slow, off day: only 1 seller was there since their operation days (pre-market days) are Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays and are normally full of businesses selling and purchasing. Per their website, Marché Gare involves 220 businesses. We walked around another section of Marché Gare where refrigerated produce is held. Observing the products gave interesting insight to some products: about 40-50% of products sold at Marché Gare are local, and 50-60% are imported (Isabella Heckerts’ field notes 3/12). I noticed the great diversity of products offered, like melons, citrus, nuts, and leafy greens, but noticed that the majority were imports and only a few I saw were grown in France. We visited the test kitchen area as well, which was inspiring as a place for businesses to share resources and risks to find new business practices that could work for them.

Produce in the refrigerator storage room. (Eliette Whittaker, March 13th, 2025)

Upon walking around Marché Gare, I noticed bins of moldy oranges in undesignated bins, prompting me to ask about their food waste diversion. Gwenaëlle Rolland was proud to reply that all businesses that are part of Marché Gare need to have their own waste and food waste diversion plan in place before they can participate in the program. On site, they offer a compost site and anaerobic digester, and a nonprofit organization comes to take food waste to a 3rd place of distribution, all of which are incentivized for the businesses via tax breaks for diversion.


Marché Gare seemed to be a promising example of the ways the government can literally facilitate the food landscape transformation and shortening of food systems. The Metropole of Montpellier funded the project with 4 million Euros, and Lauro seemed thankful for the cities support, although mentioned that the importance of food systems can sometimes be lost in the weeds of politics. To me, this commentary nodded that short chain food systems are best implemented via a combination of supports: both governmental and non-governmental. Alas, Marché Gare proved to be a site of the shortened food landscape that prioritizes economic viability, social solidarity, and environmental sustainablitity.