Barcelona World Sustainable Food Capital 2021
Barcelona was the 2021 World Capital of Sustainable Food. As part of this project, over 90 projects and 200 activities relating to sustainable food were promoted, in collaboration with farmers, associations, businesses, the world of science and local authorities.
Stand-out events were the first Citizen Sustainable Food Week, which included numerous educational and cultural activities that had something for everyone, and the 7th Global Forum of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, with the participation of dozens of cities, administrations and international organisations. With the support of the catering sector and hotel and catering schools, the sustainable food paradigm was included in the framework of the Gastronomic Forum, and a Seasonal Menu initiative was developed to promote cooking with organic, seasonal and local produce.
Children and schools also played a leading role over the course of the year, participating in innovative projects such as the “Healthier and more sustainable school canteens” programme and the “Now, here – schools for sustainable food” project, which have helped to promote healthier, fairer and more sustainable food in schools. Shops are one of the main facilitators driving change in the city's food consumption model, which is why the Green Commerce project was launched (afegir enllaç) in municipal markets, and the Biomarket , the largest organic wholesale market in Europe, was created.
Finally, Barcelona’s year as the World Capital of Sustainable Food has enabled a rethink of the municipal food aid system via the Alimenta project, and the introduction of pioneering measures in public procurement and food advertising.
In short, Barcelona World Capital of Sustainable Food has helped to promote the city’s food transformation programme. But there is still a long way to go. Many projects will continue into 2022, in particular the development of the city’s 2030 Sustainable Food Strategy. A strategy that we all – individuals, associations, organisations, companies and the public administrations involved – need to work together to build.
Sustainable Food Citizens' Week
The Sustainable Food Citizens' Week invited people to understand the relationship between eating habits and cross-cutting issues such as the climate crisis, local economic development, culture, politics, social rights and health. It was a week aimed at citizens, where they could learn about, reflect on and debate the central themes of the following itineraries:
- Gastronomic heritage
- Waste vs. utilisation
- Urbanorurality and biodiversity
- Ecological footprint
- Food and social rights
- Proximidad
Seasonal menus
With the complicity of the catering sector and hotel schools, the paradigm of sustainable food was incorporated into the framework of the Gastronomic Forum and the Seasons Menu proposal was developed to promote cuisine with organic, seasonal and local produce available to all citizens.
Now, here the schools
‘Now, here are the schools for sustainable food’ is an initiative promoted jointly with the Barcelona Education Consortium and aimed at primary, secondary and special schools in the city. With the aim of encouraging the participation of children and young people in the food debate generated by the context of the World Capital of Sustainable Food, a challenge was proposed in schools consisting of designing a poster to motivate society to adopt a shared commitment to a healthier, fairer and more sustainable food system. All the participating posters were exhibited in the foyer of the City Hall for a week and are collected in this digital catalogue.
In addition to this project, the year of the capital has allowed for the reinforcement and implementation of multiple educational programmes to promote the values of sustainable food in schools.