The number of agro-ecological cooperatives in Barcelona has increased by 58% over the last 10 years

A recent study has analysed traditional agro-ecological cooperatives in Barcelona and the changes that have come about as a result of the rapid evolution of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The study was carried out by UOC researcher Ricard Espelt and presented as his doctoral thesis, and includes a map showing the groups that consume agro-ecological products in the city of Barcelona since the birth of the first cooperative, Germinal, in 1993. It reveals that these organizations have grown from 36 in 2009, to 57 in 2019 (an increase of 58.3% in 10 years) and that the technological advances in these initiatives’ management and communication strategies can boost their chances of growing sustainably.

The research looks at the consumption of fresh, local produce at a time when Spain imports an average of 25.483 billion tonnes of food that travels long distances and leaves a 4,212-tonne footprint of CO₂ emissions every year. In Barcelona, a city with 25 years of cooperativism history, there are some 1,420 families (around 4,500 people) who consume local produce that they receive from these organizations. “You find the greatest concentration of people associated with these kinds of initiatives in the Gràcia and Poblenou districts”, highlighted Espelt, a member of the DIMMONS research group from the UOC’s IN3 research institute.

The results of the study confirm how the average group or consumption cooperative in Barcelona comprises less than 25 families, organized like an association and with the utmost respect for the values promoted by agro-ecology and the social and solidarity economy (ESS), or, in other words, agro-ecological cooperativism. “It is closely linked to agro-ecology because, aside from promoting production methods that optimize all-natural resources without using chemical or synthetic products or genetically modified organisms (which is what happens in ecology), it also takes into consideration the social and political impact of food production”, the researcher explained. He went on to say that it shares its model with the ESS because it’s an organization that is run independently from the public sector and is managed democratically, defending the equal rights and obligations of all its members and forming part of the market as an instrument that stands for the well-being of all people.

This type of cooperative is closely linked to short supply chains (SSC) as it meets the same requirements of proximity and disintermediation of consumable products. The average distance travelled by the cooperatives’ providers is 278.7 km, compared to the average of 3,827.8 km travelled by the food products consumed by the Spanish general public. What’s more, 90.7% of products are bought directly from the producer, which, according to Espelt, demonstrates a “strong commitment to local production”.

For this researcher, the organizations included in the study contribute to raising awareness about the importance of food sovereignty and the end of the peasant society, which, with the constant closure of small- and middle-sized farms, is a critical trend in Catalonia. “They are keen to promote local consumption, self-sufficiency and disassociation with global markets. Their fight against climate change also places them in line with other global movements such as the Transition Network, which has a strong following in the United Kingdom”, he added.

The study also points out that the organizations that employ people recently released from prison, who receive economic compensation in return for their work, have much greater potential in terms of the number of associates, than those that run solely on the support from volunteers. Espelt also mentioned how “the data we’ve gathered during this research suggests that these groups will have a greater chance of spreading the impact of their agro-ecological cooperative than the rest”.

Consumption and political commitment

Through this investigation, Espelt has confirmed that cooperativism has a significant activist and urban element to it. During the 15-M movement, when 10 cooperative groups of this kind were created, they went through a process of self-assertion to address their commitment to activism as well as an optimal phase where they explained their organization’s values and operations to other neighbours in the area, thus deepening their roots right at the source. “Although they tend not to participate in social movements, there are high levels of individual participation", the researcher added.

What’s more, aside from helping to transform their organization models into platform cooperatives of agro-ecological consumption, these organizations’ incorporation of technology is also relevant in terms of political action. “Traditional cooperatives have low levels of social commitment, moderate individual participation and tend not to take advantage of technology; an online cooperative ensures a greater social commitment and the incorporation of ICTs, and the activist element adds a sense of group allegiance and a much greater sense of individual allegiance”, he remarked.

In terms of the type of technology used and how it corresponds to digital commons, the research was able to observe the gap between the values promoted by the agro-ecological cooperative and the most used tools. “More than half of these collectives use the services offered by Google (ie propriety software), whilst having simultaneously developed their own software – Katuma being the most notable initiative – within the context of digital commons.

To conclude, Espelt highlighted 3 significant differences between traditional models of cooperatives from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. On the one hand, technological advances in management and communication can boost the model’s reach and make it easier to reproduce in other places. On the other hand, a virtuous circle is created within the value sphere, given that the technology they use, which is based on digital commons, adheres to the social objectives and the same founding mission of the cooperatives and consumption groups. Finally, technology and the resulting network model also brings them closer to other organizations and political activism networks, with whom they can interrelate, collaborate and join a network of techno-political networks where the borders between institutions and individual activism are blurred. It’s for this reason that this new type of organization has been given the name platform cooperatives of agro-ecological consumption.

A collective story about the history of agro-ecological cooperatives in Barcelona

This doctoral thesis has been the starting point and inspiration for the essay Cooperativisme i agroecologia a Barcelona (Cooperativism and acro-ecology in Barcelona), written with Núria Vega. The story was promoted by the Ideograma Foundation and published by Comanegra, and a great number of cooperatives and consumption groups from around the city have also taken part. The book tells the story of the evolution of the movement and contextualizes it within each of the city’s districts, thanks also to contributions from Álvaro Porro, Commissioner for Social Economy, Local Development and Consumption from Barcelona City Council; Miquel Vallmitjana from the La Repera collective; and Adrià Martín, Gemma Flores-Pons and Patrícia Homs from the L’Aresta cooperative. The study also focuses on the graphic representation of these collectives, with photographs by Alejandro Marí and Jordi Plana Pey, and poetry with verses by Gustavo Duch.

The work helps us to recognize the long tradition of agro-ecological cooperativism in the city of Barcelona and points towards the keys to its transformation in the digital era.