Sustainable Food

Barcelona City Council received one of the Ciudades y Pueblos que Alimentan [Towns and Cities that Feed] awards on Friday, given by the Municipalities for Agroecology Network in recognition for best practices in local food policies. The award was given in recognition of the Green Commerce Programme that Barcelona has rolled out at its municipal markets, representing a qualitative leap in terms of the volume of local organic produce from small producers, farm produce and fish auction produce consumed in the city due to the fact that people have easier access to this products.

The awards ceremony was held this lunchtime in the city of Cordoba, which is hosting the annual meeting of the Municipalities for Agroecology Network until 5 October. The third edition of these awards was held this year. Besides the awards ceremony, the meeting includes working sessions and round tables on the transformation of food systems towards fairer and more sustainable models. The network, made up of 25 municipal councils around the Spanish state, works to drive safe, sustainable and diverse local food systems, guaranteeing access to health food for everybody.

Boosting local organic produce

The Green Commerce Programme is one of the main initiatives launched within the framework of the programme for Barcelona World Sustainable Food Capital 2021. The project is jointly promoted by the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Markets (IMMB) and the Barcelona Federation of Municipal Markets (FEMM). The pilot project was launched at six municipal markets in June 2021 (Concepció, Llibertat, Sarrià, Ninot, Sants and Horta) and has now been extended to all the city’s food markets, with 481 member establishments.

Establishments that can adhere to this initiative are those that sell produce such as fruit and vegetables, fish and seafood, poultry and rabbit, eggs, beef, lamb and kid, pork cuts, cold meats and cheeses. To become a Green Commerce establishment, stalls must offer a number or a percentage of local organic products.

Establishments with this recognition have different materials available to identify them as such, to increase the visibility of their business and the produce they offer with these characteristics. Some posters and labels have been created to identify the establishment, and the foods they offer that meet the requisites.

The Green Commerce Programme earned an honourable mention at the Milan Pact Awards 2022, held at the 8th MUFPP Global Forum in Rio de Janeiro. The city was recognised in the Food Distribution and Infrastructure category, along with the cities of Paris, Los Angeles, Araraquara, Curitiba and Guelphas.