Founded on the principles of solidarity farming, Krautgaart is a cooperative market garden farm based in Steinfort and Koerich. The team of enthusiasts take care of both the land and our taste buds! Krautgaart grows around 70 different kinds of delicious, top-quality vegetables in natural conditions that take nature’s needs into account.
The team of market gardeners grow their vegetables ecologically and with a minimum of external intervention. Krautgaart applies the “no dig” principle, which means “no digging” and, in this context, “no ploughing”.
Without ploughing the land, it retains its natural ecosystem and can allow its wildlife to develop. What’s more, these careful market gardeners have banned chemical pesticides and fertilisers from their farms. The seeds planted in their kitchen gardens are organic. This means that each vegetable grows in ideal conditions for itself, for the soil and for consumers.
As well as caring for the soil, Krautgaart applies the principles of solidarity farming. Our customers are a network of members who pay an annual membership fee. This contribution enables the Krautgaart team to be paid fairly. “In this way, our customers can choose what they think we should receive for our work,” explains Claude Petit, co-founder of Krautgaart, “it is our work that is remunerated, more than the product itself”.
For this SIS, solidarity and equity rhyme with reciprocity, and apply from consumer to producer and vice versa. That’s why Krautgaart has set up the SoliBa initiative, which allows members to contribute in proportion to their means. As a result, the more varied the membership fees, the more access they give to people who are unable to contribute the standard annual fee.
Krautgaart members receive a basket filled with 5 to 15 varieties of local and seasonal vegetables once a week during the season. This gesture also helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by allowing consumers to use a short circuit, promote job creation in rural areas and reduce food waste, as Krautgaart includes all its vegetables. Being part of a solidarity-based agriculture also means that the risks are shared between producers and consumers. Krautgaart communicates on all these issues with its 155 members in a transparent way, which creates bonds of trust.
Initially a société en nom collectif (SENC), Krautgaart began operations in 2016. This societal impact company (SIS) joined the Impact Luxembourg label community at the beginning of 2023. Krautgaart took the plunge because, “we think we do a lot for society and the label helps to communicate with the outside world about what we do and the fact that we are not focused on profit,” explains Claude. “It’s interesting for us to be part of a network too,” he continues, “the communication and the network are real advantages of the label.”
Krautgaart illustrates the importance of the collective through its ecological and solidarity-based initiative. In addition to natural farming and fair management, this SIS also wants to pass on the message about this way of growing vegetables. Krautgaart also runs workshops with school classes, and wants to communicate with the public to inspire other enthusiasts to take up solidarity farming.
More information is available on their website https://www.krautgaart.com/, including how to join this community of vegetable lovers and receive quality produce during the harvest season.
