I am a Brit but have lived in Barcelona since the start of 2006.
I have resolved to be more thoughtful about what I buy.
There are a couple of reasons for this:
- I have too much stuff already
- I hate to waste things, including buying food that doesn’t get eaten – this means planning meals better and buying small amounts, not in bulk.
- I want to support local businesses instead of buying from chains and corporations.
- I don’t want my groceries and other goods to travel half way around the world, using resources and causing pollution as they go.
- By choice, I would prefer to buy organically grown food, to support the producers who are moving away from farming methods that require chemical fertilizers and pesticides whose use and production is damaging to the environment.
- Where possible I would like to buy fairly traded goods so I know that the producers are more likely to be getting a fair price for their produce.
Also, it seemed to me that I might simply have more interesting experiences by trying to follow these guidelines rather than ordering my groceries on line or going to the local supermarket a couple of times a week.
So far, this seems to be the case, so this blog will be a record of my shopping adventures as well as a guide for anyone who wants to use interesting local and/or family-owned businesses in Barcelona.
Doingtheshopping's Blog 
Great stuff, I will keep up with your blog. Al and I have tried to do a similar thing but unfortunately financial shortcomings tend to get in the way of organic produce but we shop locally and economically as much as possible. Good work Lewis!x
Great idea! If only there were more places to find these kinds of foods. By the time I finish work, the market is closed here in Birmingham. There are a few Farmers markets but not regular enough to keep our fridge stocked.
Good luck!
you should check out
http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/
which is blazing a trail for locally produced foodstuffs. It’s also getting plenty of national air-time on radio and some on TV. Shows what commitment and enthusiam can deliver. Goal is to have evey egg eaten in the town produced by the town. Needless to say our 15 chickens are all making a contribution.
Glad to hear it! Are they rescue chickens?
Rescue chickens are too much effort – the “rescuer” demands to see facilities and assess your ability to provide good home. Then after about 18 months they stop laying anyway. My view is any home is likely to be better than a battery farm but probably best to campaign to stamp out battery farms. Maybe we just have a more extreme rescuer than most. Our hens live free range eating nothing grass, bugs and what we don’t eat in the house. And any mice that they can snatch from our cats. It’s not a pretty sight to see a bunch of chickens scrapping over a live mouse.
Hi! I would like to talk about this blog in Monapart Barcelona. Are you still in mode ON?
Thanks in advance!
Olga