Valencia Municipal Food Council

Horticulture PATXI URIZ | BARCELONA PROVINCIAL COUNCIL

Food advice

Valencia Municipal Food Council

The Municipal Food Council of Valencia is a consultative and sectoral participation body of the City Council of Valencia whose objective is to promote a more sustainable, healthy and fair local agri-food system, in line with the commitments adopted by this city council with the signature of the Pact of Urban Food Policies of Milan.

2020

City Council of Valencia

Josep Manuel Pérez Sánchez

consell.alimentari@valencia.es

Valencia Municipal Food Council

Valencia

Justificación y origen

The global food system is broken and generates unequal power relations. The continuous growth of the population, the rapid urbanization, the reduction of primary productive resources (water, soil, etc.) and the difficulty of accessing them are some of the factors that threaten the continuity of the local agricultural and food systems. There is also a major problem of food waste (affecting a third of food along the food chain) and problems of obesity and malnutrition. In addition, the agri-food system is one of the main causes of greenhouse gases (33%).

This context forces international bodies and national and local governments to face new challenges related to the creation of sustainable and resilient food systems that are able to feed the citizens of urban areas in a healthy, fair, equitable and sustainable way .

Objectives

Work towards a sustainable, inclusive, resilient, secure and diversified local food system.
Promote the active participation of citizens in the development of public agri-food policies.
Develop comprehensive proposals working in a coordinated manner with various agents, business sectors and local administrations.

Inspiring ideas and key issues

It is considered that the establishment of the Food Council has been possible thanks to a series of key conditions.

First of all, the international context has been favorable thanks, among other reasons, to the Pact of Milan and a local administration sensitive to sustainable food and local agriculture.
On the other hand, there is a consolidated social and economic fabric that has been working for a long time to defend the territory and food sovereignty.
An agricultural tradition linked to the social, cultural and historical values of the territory is also maintained.

Presupuesto de puesta en marcha y origen de los recursos económicos

17,000 euros plus VAT approximately by the Department of Agriculture, Horticulture and Villages, dedicated to the preparation of a study of approximation and characterization of the municipal food system and to the design of the participatory process to define the food council model that it was wanted for the city of Valencia.

Annual budget and origin of financial resources

It does not have a fixed or pre-established budget, but depends on the proposals presented by the working groups. The Department of Agriculture, Horticulture and Villages will assume the technical secretariat of the Council from 2022.

There has also been funding from the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation through the calls for regionalized food systems in 2020.

Process followed for its start-up

In 2015 the City Council of Valencia signs the Pact of Urban Food Policies of Milan.
The Council of Agriculture, Horticulture and Villages of Valencia proposes the creation of the Municipal Food Council.
In July 2016, the first presentation meeting of the Council was held, in which local agents from various areas participated. Debates are organized in which the challenges posed by the creation of the body are set out and the concerns and perceptions of those attending are heard.
The document Walking towards a Food Council in Valencia is created.
In November 2016, the second meeting of the Council was held, in which nearly seventy local agents participated.
In March 2017, the Council's Charter of Principles was drawn up and three working groups were set up.
In May 2017, the Council's proposal went to administrative procedure. and in December the City Council plenum approves the creation of the Council and begins the process of approving its regulatory regulations.
In April 2018, the City Council plenary session definitively approved the Council's regulatory regulations.
In June 2018, the first constitutive session of the full Council is held.

Recipient persons and/or entities

The recipient entities of the Valencia Municipal Food Council are diverse and of various types, all related in some way to the food system: social and ecological movements, agricultural entities, consumers, nutritionists, private companies and representatives of business federations.

In general, we could say that the citizens of Valencia are direct beneficiaries of the Food Council's activity, in the sense that they are working to make the city's food system more sustainable, inclusive, resilient, safe and diversified .

Agents involved

It involves a great diversity of local agents involved at any scale in the food system. These are representatives of political groups that make up the municipal corporation; representatives of public entities related to the agri-food system, federations, groups and non-profit organization structures linked to the agri-food system, and representatives of trade unions, professional associations, universities and consumer and user organizations.

Project governance and management

The Municipal Food Council of Valencia has a public character, it is a complementary body of the City Council organization with a sectoral character, attached to the Agriculture, Horticulture and Villages Council. However, for its management it has the participation of around thirty entities external to the municipal area, with an important diversity of social organizations with experience in food and sustainability, agricultural unions and representatives of the federations businesses, representatives of the neighborhood fabric, consumer organizations and universities and professional colleges with experience in the agri-food sector.

The Municipal Food Council is made up of the following governing bodies:

And for the following working groups:

Public Procurement and Sustainable Food.
Short Marketing Channels.
Right to Food and Equity.
Food Utilization (Aprofita Valencia).
Artisanal Fishing
Agroecological Transition.
communication
Food and Climate Change.
World Food Day.
Healthy and Sustainable Food and Urban Strategy 2030.

Main actions developed

Aliments de l'Horta i la Mar project for Valencia: preparation of a guide map of supply points in the city of Valencia of local products from L'Horta i la Mar through short marketing channels and networks community and food support. In addition, a series of workshops and food routes were carried out.
Participation in the Right to Sustainable and Healthy Food campaign, promoted by various organizations of the Network of Cities for Agroecology.
Ecotira: implementation of a line of ecological products in the historic Tira de Comptar, which is currently the largest local market in the city of Valencia.
APROFITA VLC: project promoted by the Food Council of Valencia that works for the utilization of food in Valencia and L'Horta.
Elaboration of the Monitoring and Evaluation Manual of the Valencia 2025 agri-food strategy by the Terra Ciudadana Chair of the Polytechnic University of Valencia.

Obstacles encountered

The Municipal Food Council of Valencia is a very diverse space, as it brings together the perspectives and interests of the many agents of the food system. Although this fact is also a potentiality, sometimes it is complex to find the balance in the midst of this diversity.
As it is an institutional initiative, it is sometimes difficult to reach the agents in the field, so we try to find ways to do it. It is necessary to involve the agricultural sector and adapt the Council to its needs.
One of the reasons why the process of setting up the Council has been expensive is the slowness of some bureaucratic procedures.

lessons learned

The Valencia Municipal Food Council is a very powerful initiative, but it is necessary to balance its communicative projection and the evaluation of real actions.
It is necessary to guarantee that the space for participation is translated into concrete actions.
The Council requires a coordination structure.
A political, social and institutional commitment is needed to ensure the continuity of the Council.

Inspirational resources