Economia Social i Solidària

Since January, Barcelona City Council, in collaboration with the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan (PEMB), has been working on the 2030 Barcelona Healthy and Sustainable Food Strategy, a road map for achieving a more sustainable food system in the city over the next 8 years. To find out more about this document, the process and what type of continuity it will have, we spoke to Amaranta Herrero, a sociologist, agricultural engineer and one of the people responsible for putting sustainable food on Barcelona’s political agenda.

• Why does Barcelona need a Healthy and Sustainable Food Strategy?

The dominant food system is agro-industrial, intensive and globalised, and involves a lot of social and ecological problems. It is becoming increasingly clear that we need to change that food system, and cities, which consume over 70% of the food produced in the world and are home to over half the world’s total population, have a vital role to play. With this healthy and sustainable food strategy, Barcelona is setting out a road map for the next 8 years, aimed at transforming the city’s food system.

• What will we see in this road map?

The strategy brings together dozens of existing city projects that are all working towards transformation, but above all it allows us to add initiatives that are necessary for the future, with a time scale, which can become a virtuous circle.

Therefore, among other things in this document, you will find a description of the 9 goals that have been agreed, the 54 lines of action and the 265 identified initiatives. There is also a description of the implementation framework and some quantitative proposals that we would like to achieve by 2030.

• What was the drafting process like?
  

It was a very wide-ranging participatory process. A total of more than one thousand people and a hundred organisations took part. 23 working sessions were organised, along with an online consultation with city residents that received 834 contributions. And another important feature is that there was a marked gender component in the production process: 77% of the participants were women.

• The elevated participation of women is something that attracts attention. Why do you think that happened?

I think it is due to the fact that nutrition has a lot to do with everyday life and care, and a lot of food management has always been the responsibility of women, and still is. The relationship between food and women has always been marked and structured by women’s role in everything concerning planning, supplies, cooking, etc. The reverse is also true. Food has always been a major factor in forming women’s identity, including in relation to their bodies. The whole area of the links between food and health is also very feminised.

• And in terms of representativeness, how have you achieved such a wide range?

To achieve this, we chose stakeholders from the fifth food helix, with representatives from public administrations, private companies, organised civil society, the scientific world and the media. There were also representatives from the entire food chain, from the distribution, commerce and consumer sectors, as well as organisations that work in waste management, etc. And last, there were representatives from various areas relating to nutrition, such as health, culture, the economy, social rights and ecology. The aim was to have this triangulation of stakeholders.

• And how are you going to continue from now on?

Now we have this jointly produced document, which is a city strategy, not a Barcelona City Council strategy, and it can be used by the numerous city stakeholders who work in the area of sustainable food.

• How will you give the strategy continuity?

A governance structure will be created, a participative space – which is the city agreement – which will be responsible for monitoring and compliance with the strategy. In fact, one of the most notable aspects of this strategy is precisely that: it generates a regulated participatory body, a formal city space of representation.

• In terms of the proposals to be achieved by 2030, which would you highlight?

All the proposals are very much in line with what other committed European cities are doing. However, from the perspective of municipal government, a proposal that is entirely the City Council’s responsibility must be highlighted: 100% alignment of municipal public procurement with sustainable food. It is also very interesting that a figure for reducing the carbon footprint of food in Barcelona has been decided. The commitment is to reduce this carbon footprint by 15% in comparison to the data for 2021.

• And in terms of the other proposals?

The City Council’s responsibilities are not sufficient to absolutely guarantee compliance with the other proposals. This requires the involvement of other stakeholders and is why it is so important that this is a shared commitment and that we have created this city agreement.

• What challenges does the city face to achieve this change to the food system?

The main challenge is its urgency. In ecological terms, time is running out for avoiding tipping points in climatic systems. This is why it is necessary to implement rapid, effective transformations that greatly affect such an everyday area as food, while also responding to the various existing problems: ecological, social and even power problems.

• What would you like Barcelona to be like in 2030?

I would like a city that understands that nutrition is a virtuous circle of positive changes; and that the cheapest, most accessible and priority option is healthy, fair and sustainable food. I would like a city with a food system that does not generate emissions, but rather helps to cool the planet down, with ecological consumption and local produce, and I would like a vibrant social network, which is coordinated via nutritional practices, generating diverse, empowered communities.

• Will the strategy help to make this future Barcelona a reality?

I believe that the strategy contributes with a narrative on what the problem is, the direction to follow and the priorities that must be tackled. And yes, definitively, it is an instrument that can help a lot, although we must not forget that we will need all the stakeholders to make the proposed initiatives and lines of action a reality. It can also be of use as an inspiration. The City Council must implement this strategy in an action plan over the next two years, with specific initiatives, but this can also be carried out by universities, hospitals, companies, institutions and any other stakeholders, who can use it as a reference and implement it in their respective areas.

• Is this instrument the most important legacy of the city’s 2021 World Capital of Sustainable Food status?

Absolutely. And not only the strategy, but also the projects that have been launched. Ultimately, the strategy is a framework for organisational understanding of this process of change.