Rich market, poor market, by Eva Arderius

The products in Market stalls give many clues about those who shop there. For example, in one of the upper area the visitor can sense that most of the customers live well and eat better. There are season’s fruit already peeled, prepared from vegetables to make broth, all kinds of fish and shellfish, the sausages for children without pepper so that they are not spicy and the steak burgers so that the meat does not make them ball.

So easy to carry a balanced diet. Many of these products are not found in more modest markets. It is the food gap. In Barcelona there are also inequalities in the field of food. This was already a reality but now a Report of the Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies of Barcelona puts data. He says that access to healthy food is not the same depending on the area where you live. For instance, Torre Baró, in Nou Barris, the district with the lowest income in the city, is considered a food desert. In other words, according to the parameters of the study, residents cannot access the commercial offer of fresh fruits and vegetables because they do not have stores close enough or because they cannot afford it. A situation similar to that experienced a couple of years ago by the residents of the northern part of Ciudad Meridiana, also in Nou Barris. They were left without the only market they had, the Mercat de Núria, which closed because the sellers retired or went to places with a higher profit margin. Neighbors were forced to go buy fruit and vegetables by bus or car until a young neighbor from Montcada was encouraged to open a supermarket with fresh products. A business that has solved the lives of the inhabitants of a place with many accessibility problems.

And it all adds up. It is not the same to be able to eat vegetables every day, than to drink broth from a tetrabrick heated in the microwave and it is not the same to have lunch one organic meat burger one day a week to have lunch every day one hamburger ‘take away’ in the subway or on the street, in the middle of the working day.

And it is not the same to follow a diet low in salt, as the doctor has recommended, if you can go shopping and cook than having to eat what they give you in soup kitchens. This is well known to the health professionals who work in the CAPs of the most vulnerable areas of the city. Some patients cannot follow the guidelines they are given. They do not choose the food. And health suffers. Perhaps it is worth thinking about these days of the Grand Recapte organized by the Banc dels Aliments. It’s not just about quantity, it’s about quality.

Related news

The Sustainable Food Report reiterates that eating badly harms health and says that people who have nearby outlets for unhealthy products have more risk of suffering diseases associated with obesity. Everything comes together at the same point, poverty and inequalities. The zip code determines health and life expectancy. The neighbors of Ciutat Vella live less than those of Pedralbes.

There is nothing good about being poor: you eat worse – organic and fresh products are more expensive -, you get colder and hotter, you have less chance of exercising, there is a greater risk of getting sick and you also pollute more. The fight against the climate emergency it is more difficult when you live with few resources. You can choose fewer alternatives to meat, you will generate more plastic and packaging waste, you will probably recycle worse because you do not have enough space or time to lower the garbage when it touches with the “door to door & rdquor;. And, probably, the vehicle you are driving with is older and causes more emissions. It is difficult to be responsible with the environment and public health when everything goes against you. When the most necessary is not resolved. Being a good citizen increasingly means being more responsible, having more involvement and more commitment. And this cannot be asked of everyone equally. There is a risk of blaming those who have it worst. Barcelona is now the World Capital of Sustainable Food, the challenge is not only to explain what a balanced diet consists of, but to ensure that everyone can access it.

Reference-www.elperiodico.com

Leave a Comment