Monfaucon, France, 2025-04-19. A resident of a village in Bigorre arrives at the participatory grocery store in Monfaucon to join. The grocery store, called EPISTEOUS (a contraction of Epis, and Esteous, a river that flows through the Hautes-Pyrénées and Gers departments) aims to create social connections, provide villagers with a currently non-existent local shop offering quality and affordable local products, and develop sharing and service activities. Today, more than 400 grocery stores make up the Epis network in France, a participatory local buying group advocating for Photography by Sophie BELLARD / Hans Lucas. Monfaucon, France, 2025-04-19. Une habitante d un vilage de Bigorre arrive a l epicerie participative a Monfaucon pour y adherer. L epicerie EPISTEOUS (contraction d Epis, et Esteous, une riviere qui traverse les Hautes Pyrenees et le Gers) est destinee a creer du lien, offrir aux villageois un commerce de proximite actuellement inexistant avec des produits locaux de qualite et abordables et developper des activites de partage et de service. Photographie par Sophie BELLARD / Hans Lucas.