Barcelona + Sostenible

The markets of El Ninot, La Boqueria, Sant Antoni, L’Abaceria… Barcelona’s markets are the backbone of the neighbourhoods, bringing sustainable food to local people. We spoke to commercial establishments at the Mercat de la Llibertat, in the neighbourhood of Gràcia, about the role of local commerce in strengthening local ties in the area.

Patrícia, from Peixos Rafael, Lola, Dolors from Carnisseria Miquela Artés, and Tino, from Fruites Germans Mora, form part of the Comerç Verd programme, a green commerce initiative organised jointly with the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Markets and the Barcelona Federation of Municipal Markets to facilitate access for everybody to sustainable food.

Knowing your product better than anybody

For Patrícia, it’s important to take part in the initiative as it ensures that the production and consumption circle stays at home: “when fish is local, you know how it’s been caught, who’s handled it and how”. This allows her to offer her daily customers the best product, matching their needs to the product which she affirms she knows perfectly.

Tino adds that shopping at markets is a way of curbing food waste. It’s more unlikely that fruit and vegetables will go off at home if, instead of a bag of fifteen mandarins of varying ripeness, you buy five and explain to the stall assistant whether you want to eat them today or for them to stay in good condition for five days.

Tino coincides with Dolors, pointing out that it’s the establishments themselves that handle the product, and that this is the only way of confirming that meats and prepared foods are of the highest quality. They are also the first to promote sustainable food, recommending local organic or farm-direct produce to the customers at their stalls, or passing on their recipes and recommending prepared food.

Protecting and strengthening the fabric of the neighbourhood

This is possible thanks to the trust established between the stall and the customers at markets. Tino describes the experience of shopping at the market as something cultural: “you’re not just doing your shopping, you’re also creating a positive impact for the fabric of the neighbourhood, giving personal relationships the importance they deserve, as well as the product, its history and the way it is handled”.

In addition, given their expertise, stallholders can also give advice on how to handle foods, help customers to come up with recipes for their meals or recommend one product or another for some sort of preparation in particular. “Very often customers come and ask how to cook a beef casserole or what’s the best cut of chicken to cook in sauce and I explain to them, because I’ve cooked these recipes thousands of times”, admits Patrícia.

Comerç Verd, in all neighbourhoods

The Comerç Verd programme was launched in 2021 and now has 619 adhering establishments like those of Patrícia, Dolors and Tino. The programme is present in all the city’s food markets, and in the same way as the stallholders at the Mercat de la Llibertat, those at all the other establishments will be delighted to bring sustainable food and quality local products to your home too.