Report on participatory guarantee systems for consumers’ buying groups

This is an advisory report for farmer-citizen dialogues around the exploration of the potential for a participatory guarantee system (PGS) for consumers’ buying groups. It can guide participants in the process and the discussions. A consumers’ buying group is a group of citizens who buy collectively from local farmers and producers. Vegetables, fruit, dairy, bread and other products are delivered weekly to a central location by producers, or collected by members of the consumers’ buying group. Here, the consumers’ buying group makes a choice of farmers or producers with which it does or does not enter into a relationship. A PGS can potentially help consumers’ buying groups establish concrete principles for sustainability which are adapted to local needs, opportunities and values. It allows producers to tell the story behind their products and production methods if they do not have an organic label. At the same time, it gives the consumers’ buying group insight into the sustainability of local producers.