Hey dear Edgeryders 
,
I’m here today to introduce to you all my first project. Following a year of project thinking, insights modeling (hey @nadia), concepts testing in real life (at the Reef in Sidi Kaouiki, and in France), and writing articles linked to it on my blog, it is time now to engage the worldwide beta-test step of it.
This project is about food cycles, solutions for any of us to map or find local and direct fresh food supplies around. It is of course a map, but it’s definitely a little bit more than just that.
## LOCAMAP, a map for fresh and direct food diggers:- Fresh and Direct food Cycles:
A sustainable because adaptative solution with positive effects on ecology, economy, and communities.
These kind of food cycles are cutting down as much as possible any interference between the product and the kitchen. It is also about seasonnal productions, better quality of products (implying less quantities of them, and slower food consumption), using timeless agro-ecologic methods. It is about keeping it local, social, and human scaled.
They also improve the creation of contributive communities, from the organisation to the distribution, empowering the link between farmers and consumers. It is about promoting a less-is-best lifestyle that fits and adapts faster and better to the needs of a community, on both rural and urban zones.
Locamap is based on OSM, and uses uMap (thanks to @hazem for the tip on this!) to explore and contribute to the database we’re going to share with each other. Here is what it’s wanting to be as a platform:
- contributive
- borderless and international
- non-commercial and non-promotionnal
- owned by none but the contributors
- anonymous
It is a map that wants to allow anybody to share or get places, adresses and services anonymously, anywhere.
Those places are (for now) classified as following:
- baskets (little assorment of fruits and vegetables distributed)
- urbangardens (where you can grow or get fruits or vegetables)
- cooperatives (locations owned by farmers or so)
- shops
- markets
Those places that we’re going to mark on the map, have to be essentially distributing local and short-circuit food. There is no way we want to see supermarkets with a small local food service there being pinted on the map… ahah
HOW can I contribute ?
Very easily indeed! You know places ans services around you? You have a computer or a smartphone?
Here are two ways to contribute to the map:
You just have to launch the page with the map in your browser of choice. The map is now in front of you and you can consult it, by cicking on the point already marked, and check details. You will also see that there is a bunch of buttons that can be used, here are those wich are going to make you a contributor:
1/ click on the pen on the corner up right, to access the edition menu
2/ click the first button, with the “map marker” form ; there, uMap asks you to pin the location of the spot on the map, just do it
3/ a menu pops automaticaly: pick the kind of services you’re marking (urbangarden, basket, etc)
4/ write the name, and give a small and concise description of the service (in one parapgraph only)
5/ click on Save and be sure you’re deeply thanked for your contribution 
here is a gif of these steps:
As the smartphone method relies on a internet page opened in a browser, the method is exactly the same on a computer, as you just need to open the same page in your browser, and follow the same steps.
Here is a gif for computer users:
SEMANTIC and DIVERSITY
As local food models are preserving the bio-diversity of plants, vegetables, fruits, all linked to specific terroirs and knowledges, it appears natural / logical for Locamap to share this preservation of diversity drive, and include this concepts in its core.
On the human and social aspect of such a thing, we all are coming from different places, cultures and terroirs. We sometimes are travellers, migrants, or deeply rooted in the same place for a life-long time. Whatever. We don’t cook things the same way, and we don’t name things the same way as well. And this is a precious diversity.
We need to preserve this, by completing the map in the local language and alphabet.
As you can see, the map shows international names for places and countries and cities… Let’s make this a whole workflow.
For instance, if @hazem marks some point in Egypt, let it be written in egyptian arabic. If he writes some in Germany, let them be written in german.
And for those of us that will be travelling there, let’s be curious and translate that by ourselves!
Preservation of local food cycles is not an isolated stand. It shares many intersections with others, and shouldn’t let itself be driven out of a big-pictured and intersectionnal vision.
## MORE INFOS about this opened to all edgeryders beta-test:3 weeks ago, I launched the first phase of the platform test, with french speaking people “recruited” via FB and Mastodon. We were 20 to be involved in the project during this time. 5-6 contributed, wich means 20-25% give or less.
I wanted to extend the test to a more wide and international community, and as Edgeryders has been related to this project somehow since this, it was a natural move for me to trust Edgeryders community in this process.
I’m planning on a month of test with you here, and see what we can do in that time.
By that I mean getting markers on the map of course, but also discussing the project form, governance, insights, and design. It can start from just pin a place on the map to share ideas about this grey style I’ve chosen for now, through thinking the governance or moderation model of such a contributive and libre tool.
Edgeryders is a public platform, where anybody is able to see this article, the links in it, and what is discussed. As I don’t have the permission to making this post a community-only reading, I trust you guys to not share it publicly on other platforms. We can of course discuss that point 
And definitely looking to read your comments and feedbacks on it as well!
Thank you!
Thank you!
