The three pilot projects of the European FoodE program are being launched in Sabadell

Preliminary tasks have begun to adapt the spaces that will host the three pilot projects of the European FoodE program, fostered by the ICTA-UAB and based on the promotion of sustainable food initiatives. 

Sabadell is the only city in the State that participates in the project and that has received a European grant of more than 280,000 euros.

The European research project FoodE (Food Systems in European Cities) began in 2020, and the Sabadell City Council participates as a partner. The project aims to promote food systems throughout the territory and extend local, traditional, organic and sustainable agriculture.

The initiative includes three pilot projects in the city: a social urban garden in the city center, an area of ​​experimental crops in the Agricultural Park and a vegetable garden in Can Bages, next to the Ripoll River. This month, the tasks to prepare the different spaces have begun.

First of all, the necessary preliminary tasks have been carried out to guarantee the ecological production that will be developed in the three spaces. Thus, in the case of the municipal estate of Can Gambús, organic seeds have been planted to fertilize in green. On the other hand, and with the collaboration of the institute Les Garberes of Castellar del Vallès, a floral margin has been implanted to favor the biodiversity with the presence of pollinating insects and natural enemies in the farm.

The Councilor for Energy Transition, Mar Molina, emphasized the importance of the participation of secondary school students from Sabadell and other towns, contributing a pedagogical value to the project, in addition to the ecological and social aspects. These projects framed in the European program FoodE, the Agricultural Park and the orchard of the Ripoll become two important centers of local and ecological agricultural production.

Sustainable crops

Subsequently, local organic varieties of horticulture will be planted in an area of ​​2 hectares distributed between the Agricultural Park and the orchard of the Ripoll River. The Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) collaborates in this project.

The aim is to work with local varieties in organic crops, with less water and fertilizer consumption. One part will be for professional farmers - who will sell the products directly in the market and shops of Sabadell - and another will be for the general population, that is, local organic product consumption cooperatives and educational centers.

The Sabadell City Council, together with the ICTA-UAB, ​​has already launched the three participatory processes for the final definition of these spaces. The initiative also involves different entities and associations from Sabadell, secondary school students from different institutes, consumer cooperatives, as well as students from agricultural training cycles and university students from Environmental Sciences (UAB) and Engineering in Agricultural Sciences (UPC).

Source: Sabadell City Council