Fair Trade and Responsible Consumption: The food movement in Catalonia

In February 2014, I had the honor of attending the 12th Conference on Fair Trade and Responsible Consumption in Barcelona (XII Jornades de Comerç Just i Consum Responsible). The presentations and discussions focused on how the food crisis is impacting Spain’s northeast region of Catalonia—as well as the rest of the world—and the alternatives and practical solutions being implemented there. Indeed, numerous movements in Catalonia are working to regain popular control of their food according to the principals of food sovereignty and to identify public policies needed to transform the food system. Food First participated in the event, sharing experiences from the United States and our home community of Oakland, CA.

Xavi Montagut, President of the consumer group Solidarity Consumption Network (Xarxa Red Consum Solidari), opened the conference. He noted that the conference seeks to contribute to political mobilization and popular participation in the face of the patriarchal capitalist system that generates exploitation, oppression, and environmental degradation, without meeting the basic needs of the most of the population. His speech highlighted the need for alliance-building to ensure food sovereignty and fair trade; the growing social movement to transform the current consumption model into one that is just and sustainable; and the creation of commercial alternatives that are participatory, democratic, transparent and respectful of human rights.

Montagut argued that food banks—a model gaining momentum in Catalonia and throughout Spain to address hunger—are not a sustainable solution to hunger or malnutrition since they only addresses the urgent need for food without considering its underlying structural causes. Furthermore, he noted, they can reinforce feelings of guilt and helplessness experienced by the impoverished for their situation. Hunger, argued Montagut, is a social problem that requires transforming feelings of helplessness and alienation into empowerment and collective action. Each individual has to recognize that they are not responsible for the current crisis, nor are they to blame for having lost their jobs, and must at same time be empowered to know that they are capable of creating new alternatives.

Hunger, argued Montagut, is a social problem that requires transforming feelings of helplessness and alienation into empowerment and collective action.

One alternative Montagut cited is the Popular Solidarity Network (Red Popular Solidari), an organization that distributes food, but also recognizes this a sufficient means of addressing hunger. The initiative is neither welfare nor charity. It is organized with the participation of affected people in order to prevent stigmatization and promote empowerment. Affected individuals are actively involved in the design, management and organization of the Network. In response to the crisis, the Network promotes local organization and political mobilization, which allow for the self-management of solutions to local problems. The community thus organizes to reclaim their rights and put them into practice through participation.

The food banks are funded primarily by taxpayer funds from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union and supplemented by food donations from mega-distributors—the corporations that are in many ways complicit in creating the current food crisis. The donated foods are often processed products high in carbohydrates and salt. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen alternatives that respond to the needs, interests and wellbeing of affected populations.

At the conference, various organizations presented their current projects and research in Catalonia, including case studies on methods of tackling the food crisis and the results obtained. The presentations dealt with producers’ cooperatives, community gardens, Fair Trade businesses, municipal initiatives, educational programs, communal kitchens, alternative currencies, food fairs, and networks of production, distribution, and consumption. A number of organizations are working to promote cooperative economics and responsible consumption, with active citizen participation.

That a large part of the population currently lives in crisis demonstrates that the corporate food regime is neither economically nor environmentally sustainable, and that it is essential to change it now. The condition of mass unemployment currently experienced in Spain indicates we have reached a turning point in which popular organization is essential for viable change. The organizations working for food sovereignty in Catalonia show us that charity is not enough: individuals must be transformed through their active participation in solving the food crisis.

Leonor Hurtado is a Food First fellow.