Sustainable Food

The Vincles que Alimenten [Links that Nourish] project grew in response to the 2023 edition of the Agro­hackathon, an initiative promoted by Agròpolis, a participatory space focused on sustainable nutrition promoted by Barcelona City Council. There, a broad range of different organisations from all over the city came together, inspired by an idea that emerged from an experience in Paris that involved actions on a very small scale – a particular street or square – aimed at promoting sustainable eating habits.

Building on this idea, and after working on gaining mutual understanding and in-depth consideration of the concept, the project has evolved into a guide focused on dietary transformation based on a local, participatory and community-based approach. A pilot project is now set to be launched in the Sant Genís dels Agudells neighbourhood.

Three local organisations with different approaches

Vida Sana, Antígona and Manjaretti all work to promote healthy, sustainable food in different areas. By making participation a central element of the project, they have found the key to setting the wheels in motion for a collaboration between the three organisations.

The Vida Sana Association is a non-profit organisation that has been promoting organic farming and healthy eating by focusing on production and training since 1981. Antígona is dedicated to developing projects using participatory methodologies as fundamental tools in social transformation processes.

Finally, the Manjaretti Cultural and Gastronomic Association is focused on promoting gastronomy as a tool for social transformation, enabling everyone to become more aware of individual and community well-being, responsible consumption and the sustainability of our planet.

From initial idea to finished guide: cooperation and shared reflections

The process of defining the project was not immediately clear. In fact, the team behind the initiative explains that what was initially proposed was simply a starting point that led to months of joint work, monthly meetings and a thorough overhaul of the project, which ultimately received funding through Barcelona City Council’s “Impulsem el que fas” programme.

The final result is a practical guide that outlines the methodological steps to take in a given area with the aim of promoting more conscious food choices. The idea is to focus on small neighbourhood communities and kick-start participation, not only in terms of transforming the food model, but also in the very definition of what healthy and sustainable food means to each individual.

The key is participation: it is not about holding workshops to impose new habits, but about listening to the needs and views of local residents. “We don’t go to a neighbourhood to tell people what to do. They’re the ones who define what healthy eating means to them”, says Ale Manetti. So the guide doesn’t impose fixed models, but rather “offers resources and tools that each area can adapt as necessary, because the concept of sustainable food is very specific to each community”.

This is why the guide provides a range of different resources and tools that groups and individuals can tailor to suit their own circumstances: “There are no set steps to follow; after arriving in a particular neighbourhood, the driving force will be the local community, who’ll be responsible for implementing the plan”, says Manetti.

In-depth work: links between the different organisations

One of the core values of Vincles que Alimenten is inter cooperation. Despite initial difficulties, and after months of preliminary work, the organisations involved view the process in a very positive light. In fact le Manetti recalls that “right from the start, we found we needed to talk, to define what healthy and sustainable food really meant to each of us, because while we have things in common, there are also differences between us”.

So “before starting work on the project as such, we had to find a shared motivation and a shared working dynamic, which although it meant taking things slowly and lowering our expectations, it also meant learning a lot from each other, and achieving more than we could have on our own,” explains Lucrecia Olivares.

In the case of Montse Escútia from Visa Sana, who has extensive experience in promoting organic food, the project has meant a broadening of horizons. “We’ve always worked hard on content and training, but we’d never addressed the social and participatory side, and that’s been really enriching”.

What’s more, Lucrecia Olivares highlights the element of critical self-assessment involved in the process: “The project has made us question how we do things as organisations, because self-criticism isn’t something you can do simply by looking in the mirror. It requires a plurality of perspectives and debate between different ways of thinking”.

From planning on paper to reality: pilot project Sant Genís i Roquetes

With the guide providing the basic framework, the project is now entering a new phase: implementation as a pilot scheme. There are neighbourhoods in Barcelona such as Sants, Poble Sec and Gràcia, where there is a great deal of community activity, and more specifically, organisations focused on healthy and sustainable food that provide a wealth of resources. In this regard, testing the guide in an area where these issues are less prominent was considered.

Following a preliminary assessment, we’ve decided to launch this phase in the Sant Genís dels Agudells neighbourhood in the Horta-Guinardó district, and subsequently in Roquetes, in Nou Barris. The aim is to create a core group made up of organisations and local residents who will determine the actions to be taken based on the proposals in the guide.

The Agro-hackathon: the catalyst for this and other projects

The story of Vincles que Alimenten began at Agrópolis’ Agro-hackathon, a space for collective creativity where all kinds of organisations join forces to come up with transformative projects. This annual event promotes the sharing of knowledge and joint creative work between organisations in the agroecology and food sovereignty sectors.

Furthermore, Agrópolis offers technical support, and helps to ensure that the ideas that surface during the Agro-hackathon can be developed into viable projects – as exemplified by Vincles que Alimenten.

According to the promoters, this space is much more than just a specific event. Montse Escútia explains that “for small organisations like ours, which are constantly on the go, it’s an opportunity to take stock, get to know other organisations, find inspiration and see that we’re not on our own”.

For Ale Manetti, “it’s about building good relationships between organisations, something that’s essential, because in a city as dynamic as Barcelona there are lots of initiatives that aren’t even aware of each other’s existence”. It also “gives meaning to concepts such as networking and participation, which define the passion for constant dialogue and critical thinking that drives us”. The proof is that “we’re all here together now, and we’ve already signed up for the next edition”, says Lucrecia Olivares.