STEPHEN RICCIO
PONTIAC Aug. 19, 2020
The Quebec agricultural union (UPA) has created a mobile application called Mangeons Local with which consumers can locate farmers and better navigate the local market.
Suzanne Laplante, the UPA agent for Pontiac, said that the app contains three different . . .
options for users. One is for locating a farm and it expands on what that farm offers. The second is for the location of the farmers market in the area. The third is for locating processors such as cheese factories.
“The goal is really to get consumers and tourists to locate the farms where there is direct sales or people are selling directly at the farm, or at local markets,” she said.
Currently the app only has several Pontiac area farmers signed up, although Laplante said on Aug. 13 that she expected a formal registration form to be sent out by the end of the week to register more farmers.
“Right now with the data that I have, we have approximately 20 farms in the Pontiac that provide direct services, direct sales to consumers, either through baskets or local markets or directly at the farm,” she said. “So there’s a potential of having 20 of those on the site too.”
Across Quebec, the app already has 500 farmers on it and Laplante said it has the potential to hold three times that.
Android and iPhone users can download the app from both the Google Play Store and the App Store for free.
