This article, published by Soberanía Alimentaria biodiversidad y cultura, shows the action of the organisations to stop the impacts of the corona crisis on the local and proximity markets.

More than 150 organizations from all over the state are demanding that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food take measures to address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on small-scale agri-food production and the agro-ecological sphere.

More than a hundred organizations and groups from all over Spain have just registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, this 30th of March, a formal request to "dictate the pertinent instructions to the autonomous communities and town halls to look for solutions for the non-sedentary markets of proximity".

The demand is made in the face of the widespread closure of these food markets due to the excessively restrictive interpretation that many local and regional governments are making of the bans decreed by the state of alarm in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The signatory organisations, which include several state-level platforms, refer to the safety and hygiene protocols implemented by some autonomous communities so that proximity markets can continue to guarantee food safety during this crisis. It is not in vain that these direct sales channels facilitate the access of citizens to essential goods - whose production, circulation and supply are expressly protected by the state of alarm - in optimal safety and hygiene conditions that are usually superior to those of any supermarket. Specifically, they cite the regulation of direct food sales made by the Government of the Balearic Islands; or the trips to farms, orchards and corrals for self-supply of food made by the Ministry of Rural Environment in Galicia.

Also, in order to mitigate the brutal economic impact that this crisis is causing in the peasant economies, an effort is requested from the various administrations to bet on local production in the public purchase of food to supply hospitals, senior citizen centers, social dining rooms, school canteens or food banks; or fiscal measures such as exemption from payment of self-employed to small farms.

This urgency, like so many others, will find us united with all the organizations that work in favor of a healthy and sustainable diet, where small agricultural and livestock production is in the forefront.

Below, we share the full paper presented to the Ministry of Agriculture with all the arguments and requests made to reopen non-sedentary markets for local foods throughout Spain. The period of accessions has ended.

The article was originally written in Spanish.

Link for the letter in Spanish: https://www.soberaniaalimentaria.info/otros-documentos/luchas/723-carta-mapa

For more information, please visit: https://www.soberaniaalimentaria.info/otros-documentos/luchas/722-produccion-campesina

Photo credits: https://www.soberaniaalimentaria.info/otros-documentos/luchas/722-produccion-campesina