The context
Food is such a broad topic that it has given rise to a magazine specifically dedicated to it. Faced with the fragmentation of information related to food, the online magazine "L'Alimentation générale" aims to address all the issues needed to understand our food system and the challenges related to it.
Initially designed in paper format, the magazine was created in 2012 by Pierre Hivernat and Mathilde Goanec, two journalists. In 2014, it will become an online website, today it has a monthly readership of around 120,000 persons. In 2015, the agency of the same name was founded by Elisabeth Martin and Pierre Hivernat.
In addition to being an online magazine, l'Alimentation générale is therefore a consultancy agency, which designs, organises events and provides advice to its clients (public and private structures).
The project
The online magazine deals with cross-cutting food topics: food waste, recommendations from professionals, political, economic, social and geopolitical issues related to food. The articles format can be a synthesis on the state of academic research, reports, or portraits of actors in the food sector. There are also videos or podcasts.
A visit to the online magazine offers the reader a panorama of subjects, debates, actors, and everything related to the field of food, "from fork to fork".
The agency's actions
As an agency, the Alimentation Générale offers different services and is assigned different missions. In the field of consultancy, in 2017 MC93 (the Bobigny’s Cultural Center) was helped to set up its catering offer in line with the programming and policy of Bobigny’s town.
Regarding event design, in 2019, the agency participated in the implementation of the exhibition "Cities that eat" with the Public Library of Lyon, relating to the present and future relationship between rural and urban areas.
Also a designer of editorial objects, l'Alimentation générale has co-produced films and articles on agroecological producers for the Fermes d'avenir competition, in partnership with La Ruche qui dit oui. In addition, the structure participates in the creation of chronicles on France Culture (recently, "Hunger more dangerous than coronavirus", in the programme "The Good Things", for example).
These actions are always carried out with the aim of promoting a more sustainable diet.
The means
In order to function, Alimentation Générale relies on a whole community of experts (researchers, historians, sociologists, philosophers, engineers, chefs, etc.) as well as professionals from the world of food (producers, farmers, craftsmen, etc.). The editorial committee is made up of 14 people, and 35 independent contributors which participate in the agency's activities.
In order to finance itself, the structure, mostly advertising-free, relies essentially on donations from its readers and companies that wish to support an independent and committed press for better eating. A crowdfunding campaign in 2017 enabled the online magazine to be redesigned. The aim of this economic model is to offer free access to quality information to its readers.
In addition, most of its resources come from services sold by the agency to public and private sector clients.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of sufficient external funding to pay their freelance journalists, the agency is no longer able to produce the magazine. Of course, the articles, videos and podcasts (more than 4000!) remain available online.
The little extra
While the online magazine offers an encyclopaedia of knowledge related to sustainable food, the website also provides an overview of food-related issues in a specific territory. The "Territorial edition" tab, dedicated to the different French regions, brings together all the initiatives and news related to a particular territory.
This initiative sheet was written by Emma Plouchard and translated by Denis Huret, LFC volunteer - October 2020.
Last modification : 05 Feb 2021.
Alimentation Générale
Alimentation Générale is a French online magazine that deals with cross-cutting food topics: food waste, recommendations from professionals, political, economic, social and geopolitical issues related to food. The articles format can be a synthesis on the state of academic research, reports, or portraits of actors in the food sector. There are also videos or podcasts.