Sustainable Food

For the second year running, the Joint Office for Sustainable Food (OCAS) provided advice and guidance for the sustainable food synthesis module in the advanced vocational training course in dietetics at the Barcelona Food Institute (IAB). Students spent three weeks working on projects aimed at promoting the transformation of the food system through municipal markets, with very positive results.

Municipal markets: a gateway to sustainable food

Under the guidance of Anna Anglí, a technician at OCAS, the training programme began with an introductory class on sustainable food systems, focusing on markets. The session was delivered by Carles Pujol, who is in charge of marketing projects at OCAS, and Giulio Cappadona from the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan (PEMB) who is responsible for marketing and distribution projects in the city of Barcelona as part of the ‘Healthy Food Mission’ included in the Metropolitan Commitment 2030.

Pujol considers that “Barcelona’s municipal markets and the future food industry professionals trained by Food Institute have a fundamental role to play in making healthy, local and responsibly sourced food more accessible and easier to incorporate into everyday life. Local commerce and new talent in the field of food specialisation are essential ‘influencers’, providing much-needed information in a society that is very out of touch with the food system, healthy eating and the rural world. Listening to these professionals and taking their advice provides something that is essential today: clear reliable information on the origin, quality and characteristics, not only of the food we eat, but also of the impact of social, economic and environmental factors”.

Cappadona adds that “municipal markets, with six million monthly visitors, should be one of the key public spaces providing access to local produce, always looking to the future and focusing on drawing the attention of new generations to this way of shopping”.

Sustainable food on future professionals’ CVs

In the first session of the module, the OCAS issued a series of market challenges based on OCAS food strategies aimed at promoting a fairer, healthier and more sustainable food system: the Healthy and Sustainable Food Strategy Barcelona 2030 and the Food Strategy of Catalonia. These were the challenges issued:

• To position markets as a key point of reference for fresh healthy produce, with a focus on young people.
• To create a good practice manual for preparing healthy produce tasting experiences in markets.
• To incorporate healthy eating into market campaigns through a guide.
• To encourage a scientific and gastronomic debate in markets.

Taking these as their starting point, the students did some bibliographic research to broaden their knowledge and help them to develop the projects, with the support of the teaching staff at the centre.
A total of 18 projects were presented, and it was great to have been able to carry out a pilot project at the Les Corts, Sants, el Ninot and Sant Antoni markets.

The experience allowed the participants to put their proposals to the test, assessing their strengths and weaknesses from a practical point of view. They were also able to get a close-up look at Barcelona’s markets, talking to stallholders – who are essential in ensuring a public supply of fresh, healthy food – as well as to consumers, with a view to understanding what it is that motivates them when shopping for food.

The students also visited Nano Farinetes farm to experience the realities of the primary sector first hand.

The visit showed the future technical dietitians just how important farmers themselves are in building a sustainable food system. One of the main issues that OCAS is focusing on is strengthening the links between the rural and urban worlds, as understanding and accessibility are key in the transformation of the food system.

A highly satisfactory experience

The synthesis module in sustainable food is an extremely enriching experience for IAB students. As the institute’s teaching staff said: “with projects like these, students can apply their knowledge to real life situations and see the usefulness of their work”, as well as developing skills like communication, teamwork and problem solving.

OCAS values collaboration with the IAB on this annual project very positively, as it contributes to the training of professional dieticians who are fully aware of the importance of food sustainability.