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The global agri-food sector debates future challenges in Barcelona

On March 22 and 23, the Fair hosted the Agri-Food Summit, the first of its kind to be held in the world, and brought together more than 800 public and private representatives from 25 countries in Barcelona.

Organized by the Incyde Foundation of the Chambers of Commerce, the Dieta Mediterrània Foundation and the Triptolemos Foundation, the meeting served to debate the challenges and trends of the sector in an economic context marked by war and high inflation. Global sustainable models were also discussed: sustainable production, science and innovation; financing mechanisms for food companies; entrepreneurship; the Mediterranean diet; the food of the future; territorial balance and rural development and consumption trends, among other topics.

The meeting began with an 'online' welcome by the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, and the also virtual presence of the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas. On behalf of Barcelona Provincial Council, Sònia Callau, Marta Martínez and Rosabel Hernández participated. Sònia Callau, head of the Territorial Agricultural Directorate (DTA), participated in the round table "The Green Deal and the challenges of agricultural and livestock production". For her part, Marta Martínez shared new strategies to facilitate access to land and promote agricultural relief in an interview at the RTVE studios in Sant Cugat. And, in her speech, Rosabel Hernández, head of the Local Productive Fabric Support Section, explained the Earth Products Network project as an example of good practice.

More information about the summit in this link.

More agri-food news

#Sustainable Food Systems

Barcelona Provincial Council organizes a trip to the future of sustainable food systems
Agricultural park technicians from the Barcelona province, council staff and representatives of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona and the Government of Catalonia visit the Horta de Valencia to discover new strategies for agricultural revitalization, generational relief and local food.
(BCN Smart Rural)

Is it really expensive to eat organically?
Organic food is often associated with expensive food. Is this label really fair?
(El Naciional)

#Generational Renewal

The small revolution of the new peasantry
Despite the progressive aging of the peasant population, there is a new generation that demands to be heard. They seek to take root in the territory, not to compete with nature, to reduce dependence on fossil products. They are the new peasantry.
(Ara)

73% of Manresa farmers will enter retirement age in the next ten years
Manresa's City Council presents the diagnosis of the city's food system with the aim of advancing the ecological transition. The document is the starting point for defining the action plan to promote the ecological transition in the city.
(Manresa City Council)

#Agrarian Parks

Farming, ecologists, infrastructures and administrations discuss the future of the Llobregat Delta in a day organized by the Generalitat in the Prat
At the event, opened by Councilor Jordà and Mayor Mijoler, the City Council del Prat presented the report " Towards a metropolitan green infrastructure ", commissioned by Barcelona Regional, with proposals to move towards a better integrated management and with more resources for the agricultural and natural areas of the Delta.
(Prat de Llobregat City Council)

The Lower Llobregat Agrarian Park calls for subsidies for cooperatives and agricultural entities and recovery of fields
The aid is for agricultural cooperatives and other non-profit agricultural entities and for the recovery of fields. The deadline for submitting applications ends on Friday, April 28.
(Lower Llobregat Agrarian Park)

#Agrodiversity

40 recipes revalue various types of brassicas suitable for organic production
The Miquel Agustí Foundation promotes new varieties of brassicas suitable for organic production in the Maresme and Vallès Oriental farms and publishes a recipe book of 40 dishes, two for each tested variety.
(Ruralcat)

#Urban Food Gardens

The Hort d'en Tomàs de Montbau ensures continuity and will be a research space of the UB
City Council de Barcelona, Consorci del Parc de Collserola and UB agree with the users of the garden to move the agricultural activity to the grounds of La Manya - Can Llong.
(Betevé)

The school garden as an educational tool in Sant Vicenç de Montalt
With the transfer of a municipal garden to the Esteve Albert Institute, City Council strengthens the educational dimension of these spaces. The possibilities of the garden as an educational resource are many, as it allows learning to grow vegetables and the efficient use of water. It also makes children and young people share tasks that promote healthy eating, and values about agriculture and the importance of the countryside.
(Sostenible)

#Livestock Farming

The Barcelona Provincial Council promotes the production of ethical and sustainable meat
Two solutions that will revolutionize animal welfare and the extensive livestock farming sector star in the new 'BCN Smart Rural Story'. These are mobile slaughterhouses and invisible enclosures.
(BCN Smart Rural)

#Managed Forests

The role of rural communities is key to forest fire prevention
This is demonstrated by the results of two scientific articles focused on nature-based solutions for fire prevention, published as part of the FriESmart project. Among the action proposals, the recommendation to reverse rural abandonment with agriculture and the promotion of forest species resistant to fire stands out.
(CTFC)

LIFE AgroForAdapt work begins
LIFE AgroForAdapt aims to promote agroforestry systems as a measure of adaptation to climate change in the agricultural and forestry sectors in the Mediterranean area. The project works with two types of landscapes: those that combine woody vegetation with crops and those that combine woody vegetation with livestock pastures.
(Barcelona Provincial Council)

#Agricultural Transformation

The first shared garden workshop of Catalonia Central begins the production of local products
The new food processing space is located in the Puigmercadal market in Manresa and aims to promote healthy, sustainable and safe food production models.
(BCN Smart Rural)
 

#Food Waste

Pickers: retired women who save harvests for people in vulnerable situations
The workshop Es im-perfect makes preserves with surpluses from the field or fruits and vegetables that cannot be sold for aesthetic reasons. Since 2018, they have saved 2,304 tons of food from the garbage.
(El País)

The Catalan Department for Climate Action publishes a new guide to help the restaurant sector prevent food waste
The Gastronomic Forum of Girona hosts the official presentation of the "Guide for the prevention of food waste in the commercial catering sector and central kitchens" which aims to support the sector to promote food utilization.
(Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda)

#Sustainable Production

New edition of the 'Sabors de l'Horta' restaurant guide in the Baix Llobregat
The publication reflects the commitment of the establishments of this collective to the fresh produce of the Agricultural Park.
(El Far)

#Agricultural Education

The creation of the Agricultural School of New Technologies and Horticulture in Cabrils is approved
The new center aims to improve people's professional skills, with a clear specialization in the horticulture of the counties of Maresme, Baix Llobregat, Vallès Occidental and Oriental, and the metropolitan area.
(Government of Catalonia)

#Agrifood innovation

The Catalan Department for Climate Action announces the 10th edition of the Ruralapps Award 2023
The scope of the awards goes beyond apps and extends to the areas of digitization and digital transformation: governance and data management, Artificial Intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, robotics, internet of things, connectivity, etc. Its purpose is to bring to light the possible tools that exist in the ICT market, aimed at or that provide technological solutions to the public or to professionals in the agri-food, forestry, rural and fishing sectors. The deadline for submitting candidacies ends on May 15.
(Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda)

#Food Heritage

A research with Catalan participation studies traditional agriculture to look for future solutions
The UPF is one of the twelve partners of the project that will develop an interdisciplinary approach to traditional crops through the recognition of the value of cultural heritage and sustainability.
(Arrels)

#Equality

The study "Women and the environment: the role of women in green employment in Catalonia" is presented
According to this report, Catalonia is at the head of the State in green employment, but there are very masculinized work profiles. Women hold only 28% of jobs in the green employment sector.
(Ruralcat)

#Agrarian Alerts

Can Violí, in la Garriga, will no longer be developable
La Garriga City Council has approved the specific modification of the General Urban Planning Plan regarding the Can Violí sector, which involves the change of the land. As explained by the council, the aim of the modification is "to preserve this agroforestry environment, avoiding the construction of nearly 1,500 new homes, which would have occupied almost 50 hectares that are currently under dryland cultivation, oak forests and shore".
(Nació Digital)

#Gastronomic culture

The new edition of the "Corpus de la cuina Catalana" claims the validity of the tradition
The work compiles 1,200 fundamental formulas from our recipe book, revised and expanded with respect to the first two editions.
(Arrels)

#Agrifood Communication

The peasant debate is conspired in Vic against «on marmot day»
The participants in the Talaia Pagesa forum advocate occupying an alternative discussion space to those that already exist in the sector.
(Arrels)

The products of the Agricultural Park are the protagonists of a new gastronomic festival in Barcelona
Barcelona's Poble Espanyol hosts the first edition of the San Miguel GastroFest Km0, which has had the participation of nine restaurants from the Baix Llobregat.
(El Far)

#Interviews

Maria Giner: «I always go with my head held high because I'm a peasant»
The Kosturica is a long-standing project that has been underway for twenty-three years in Canovelles (Vallès Oriental). Maria Giner is one of the founders of this organic garden production and distribution cooperative that wants to be an alternative to the current agri-food model.
(BCN Smart Rural)

Maria Costa: «Being a farmer I have a lot of inner peace»
L'Escairador is the ecological, local and cultural bet of a woman who six years ago decided to promote a project that nurtures her county and, since then, has been working with passion and rigor in the search for excellence in the tradition
(BCN Smart Rural)

Maria Rovira: «Even if we are farmers in a family farm, we have to consider it as a business, because otherwise there is no future»
Maria Rovira's career as a farmer began thirty years ago following her father's illness. She took the reins of the family farm in Montserrat Rural Park with an illusion that she keeps intact and that she shares with Lourdes Gómez, another strong and energetic woman.
(BCN Smart Rural)

Naiara Cervantes: « One year after finishing the CFGM in Agroecological Production I became self-employed, created my own company and bought a place in the Municipal Market of Blanes»
This young farmer finished her studies in agroecology in 2022 and now recommends it to "anyone" interested in being self-sufficient, being aware of the landscape that surrounds us and taking care of it.
(Lower Tordera Agrarian Space)

Íngrid Vilardaga: «The livestock roads are a potential that should be promoted »
The technician from the Transhumance Studies and Resources Center talks about the work they have been carrying out for years to bring this livestock activity closer to the public and to make known all the advantages it can bring to today's society.
(El 9 Nou)

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —