Author: Dinela Dedic

Sign for Le Ferme Urbaine de Saint Denis. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

Flowers grown on the farm being sold to the public. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

Today we had the privilege of visiting Le Ferme Urbaine de Saint Denis located within the limestone streets of urban Pairs. This particular farm has been an agricultural site for hundreds of years and was bought by the municipality of Paris recently after the passing of its fourth generational farmer. Aiming to preserve the valuable land and its soils, the municipality of Paris is lending the property to Gally Farms, a company primarily focused on greenspace maintenance but also owns three urban farms in France. Gally Farms opened Le Ferme Urbaine de Saint Denis in 2019, but it has only been certified organic by the French government this year for its non-hydroponic operations.

Although the farm does sell its produce in a short-chain system, its primary

The farm shop where produce is sold from farmer to consumer. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

goal is not production. Rather, Le Ferme Urbaine de Saint Denis is dedicated to education and hopes to connect local youth to agriculture who would never have had that exposure otherwise. Every Wednesday, the farm invites students to bake bread and hosts other activities such as tending to the field and caring for the animals. The farm also hosts teambuilding activities among their full-time employees and volunteers, providing education on composting and organic agriculture. The farm has run into some specialized challenges, however. By law, root vegetables are not allowed to be grown despite healthy soil because of pollution being released from the city and likewise, the eggs produced by their chickens are not allowed to be sold for human consumption. To combat these issues, Le Ferme Urbaine de Saint Denise feeds unsellable food to other animals such as goats or pigs and utilizes a compost system to put nutrients back into the soil.

Cloches used on the farm for hundreds of years. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

The brave Landon loading hay for the animals. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

On our visit, we started our tour with discussion over coffee and were then guided across the rest of the facility. We had a wonderful time feeding the livestock, especially the donkey, Apache, and Fleur the sheep, who along with the other animals live on the farm purely for educational purposes. We were also able to observe the growing space and the shop where the products are sold directly from farmer to consumer. The tour ended in the museum, where tools such as cloches used on the land hundreds of years ago are preserved for viewing. Our engagement as college students on the farm was exemplary of the type of engagement younger kids would gain on their visits and only emphasized the importance of having a connection to where your food comes from. This is especially relevant in France, where many older farmers are retiring and the land needs preservation by the newest generation to keep implementing sustainable agriculture.

Link to Le Ferme Urbaine de Saint Denis’ Website for More Information

Sources

Raworth, K. (2023.) Donut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21^st-Century Economist. Chelsea Green Publishing.

The urban farm – Saint-Denis. (n.d.). The Farms of Gally. https://www.lesfermesdegally.com/la-ferme-urbaine-saint-denis

La Glanerie’s logo located outside of its central location in Toulouse. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

Established in 2003 by the Metropolis of Toulouse, La Glanerie is a non-profit reuse center that aims to reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfills while also fostering social inclusion. Unlike thrift stores in the United States like Goodwill and the Salvation Army, La Glanerie features ten workshops alongside its collection centers where products ranging from bicycles to furniture are sorted, cleaned, upcycled, and then priced to be sold at one of its two storefronts in Toulouse.

One of the many items featured on the shelves of La Glanerie!
Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

During our visit we got to tour the workshops of La Glanerie’s central location where literal tons of unwanted items are shipped to be upcycled and resold. We walked through fairytale spaces lined from floor to ceiling with bike parts, CDs, clothing, and toys waiting for new life to be breathed into them. Thankfully, between 65-70% of all items donated to La Glanerie are reused and redistributed into the Toulouse community at consistently low prices. Keeping prices consistent despite branding ensures that the recycled products circulate out of the stores fast, reinforcing La Glanerie’s priority of upholding France’s circular economy over generating profit.

All the products that are not accepted or remain unsold are either given to a recycling center with a focus on raw materials or donated to those in need. Curiously, most of the items donated to La Glanerie are clothing, which has been a major issue for the organization with the rise of fast fashion trends. After seeing their railcar filled with clothing that could not be accepted by the organization, it was easy to see that La Glanerie was being overwhelmed with clothing donations. The way in which it was impossible to sell as many items as was received really gave me a perspective as to the scale of fast fashion’s harm while also serving as an inspiration to make better choices as a consumer.

Items being restored to be resold in La Glanerie’s workshops. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

However, in addition to its focus on recycling products, La Glanerie is also dedicated to giving back socially.

Shelves of books being sorted in one of La Glanerie’s workshops. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

The organization features 15 permanent workers that provide hands-on career training for its other 50 temporary employees to help them break into or re-enter the workforce. This training includes both practical experience and workshops where employees receive guidance on creating resumes. The municipality also pays La Glanerie to visit elementary schools to educate children on the importance of reusing material, composting (featuring their dry toilets!), and environmentalism. As a response to the massive amount of clothing donations being received, the organization is currently developing educational materials for older teenagers and young adults on the impacts of fast fashion.

Tee shirt bags created in the workshop! I am quite proud of mine. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

My reusable sponge! Created by weaving together strips of old socks. Image courtesy of Dinela Dedic (2025).

As a class, we were able to have some hands-on experiences at La Glanerie as well! We created reusable sponges using pantyhose and old socks that can be reused for much longer than the usual plastic sponge. Each of us also received a tee shirt that we turned into funky, sew-free tote bags. It was great fun while also serving as a reminder that everything around us has the potential to be given a second life. The social work done by La Glanerie is equally as impactful as the work they do in restoring waste, reflecting the importance of including social justice in sustainable development just as we have emphasized in our classes on the circular economy.

Link to La Glanerie’s Webpage for More Information

Sources

La Glanerie. (n.d.). la-glanerie. https://www.la-glanerie.org/

Raworth, K. (2023.) Donut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21^st-Century Economist. Chelsea Green Publishing.