Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

The campaign aims to empower people to take conscious, responsible decisions when shopping for food.

Changing the way we habitually fill our shopping baskets would be an enormous qualitative step forward in terms of the health of the planet, and in combating the climate emergency. In effect, in Barcelona more and more people are becoming aware of the problem. According to last year’s Òmnibus survey, one in two local residents made greater efforts to become more responsible consumers in 2022, and they did so primarily for environmental and social reasons.

Within this context, the “If we’re aware of what we eat, we can change the world” campaign aims to empower people to take conscious, responsible decisions when shopping for food. The campaign invites shoppers to be sure to ask about the origins of the food they are buying, how it’s produced and whether the produce is seasonal, in this way encouraging the consumption of local organic food.

Remember that by buying local produce you’re helping to avoid the pollution caused by long-distance transport, and that consuming organic produce reduces soil erosion, and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as helping to preserve to conserve biodiversity. Furthermore, buying local organic food reduces your consumption of potentially harmful chemical products and pesticides.

Campaign roll out

The campaign, that will continue until the end of March, reaching every corner of the city, provides informative materials exclusively for primary and secondary schools, creating an opportunity to positively affect the food education of future generations.

Green shops and stalls in Barcelona’s Municipal Markets will also play a leading role, as they are trusted establishments where shoppers can ask about the produce they’re going to be eating, and what’s more during the final phase of the campaign, they’ll be giving away free reusable food containers and bags with purchases over €10.

Over 600 establishments in Barcelona have signed up to the Green Commerce programme, which is the city’s most powerful and long-running project for encouraging the purchase of local produce.

Barcelona in 2030

This awareness-raising campaign is part of the Barcelona Healthy and Sustainable Food Strategy for 2030 (EASSB2030), the food-policy road map the city will be following for the next eight years, which was presented last November.

Under this strategy, the City Council is committed to the promotion of projects and initiatives aimed at transforming the city’s food system in such a way as to give sustainable local economies a boost, combat inequalities and care both for our health and that of the planet, without endangering future generations.