Sustainable Food

This year, a total of 31 projects have been selected and will receive funding as part of the Impulsem el que Fas [We promote what you do] programme, in the category of Sustainable Food and Responsible Consumption. These projects help us to move towards more efficient consumption and guarantee healthy, just and sustainable food systems in the city.

This year, Barcelona City Council has allocated €37 million to funding 263 innovative local economic projects, adapted to the needs of individual neighbourhoods and promoted by those neighbourhoods and districts. This year’s edition offers the highest ever amount of funding, and it has also reached the highest number of subsidised projects. The subsidies cover up to 80% of each project’s budget, an amount they receive immediately, so they can use this support to promote their activity, revitalising the city’s neighbourhoods and districts. The projects fall into 6 categories:  158 are projects in the “Shutters Up” category’, 25 come under “Socio-Economic innovation and Social and Solidarity Economy in Strategic Sectors in Local Areas”, 42 are listed under the “Fostering Quality Employment in the Area”, 9 under “Responsible and Sustainable Tourism”, 31 are in the “Sustainable Food and Responsible Consumption” category and 7 are included in “Last-Mile Goods Distribution Centres”. This programme has been consolidated in Barcelona over the last six years, during which time €16.5 million has been distributed and 839 initiatives with an impact on training and services have been subsidised, reaching 20,000 people and 5,000 businesses. 50% of the funded projects involve initiatives and activities for people at risk of social exclusion.

Rebost Molsa

Molsa is one example of sustainable food and responsible consumption which has received funding this year. This is an initiative created by the community of shops associated with Bioconsum (a purchasing and services centre for shops in the herbalist and dietary sector). In 2014, Bioconsum’s 50+ member shops began a debate on how they could undertake a collaborative process that went beyond communal purchasing and shared services. This led to the creation of Molsa in 2016. It is a cooperative of health shops that share common values and tools while preserving the diversity, personality and unique characteristics of each establishment.

This is a cooperative of shops which are based on good nutrition, rich in organic food and with accompanying food supplements and natural therapies, such as acupuncture, osteopathy and kinesiology. They also believe it is important to use natural, toxin-free household products and cosmetics.