The Geneva farm products label of guarantee

The Republic and Canton of Geneva, represented by its territorial and agricultural departments – the  Département du Territoire (DT) and the Domaine de l´Agriculture (DAGE) – holds the rights to the “Genève Région - Terre Avenir” quality guarantee label.

Underlying policy aims to “preserve Geneva’s agricultural zones and promote local farming that is competitive and respectful of both the environment and of consumers, while making it possible for all consumers to have easy market access to Geneva farm produce.”

In June 2002, the government of Geneva had already undertaken a series of urgent measures to safeguard agriculture in the canton, among them promoting farm products with an eye to introducing a stringent and carefully-monitored “terroir” label of guarantee.

In a society that gives consumers easy access to food grown all over the planet, heightening awareness about buying local is key, especially when increasing numbers of people are dissatisfied with the information they’re getting about the products they buy.

More and more consumers want to know whether sustainable farming methods were used in the production of what they eat; about the working conditions of those involved in the production of the food they buy; and that fair prices were paid to producers all along the production chain. 

Environmentally-friendly farming and fair conditions for agricultural workers are far from being the norm in other countries as they are in Switzerland and particularly in Geneva, where on average farm workers are paid 24% more than farm workers in the rest of the country.