The In Loco association has just launched the Guide to Local Consumption, which challenges citizens to rethink food consumption habits.
The motto “Local production seeks local consumers” «could be the title of a newspaper advertisement, but it is, in fact, a way of awakening to the need to change behavior, contributing, through food consumption, to the local economy and consequent reduction in the ecological footprint”, stresses In Loco.
The issue is not recent. «We know that, each year, the Planet's annual resources run out sooner and, according to the organization's calculations Global Footprint Network, if all countries consumed as much as the average values of the Portuguese population, this year would have ended on the 25th of May. Thus, the ability to regenerate the Earth's resources does not support the lifestyles of its inhabitants, so we find ourselves living on credit, “borrowing” from future generations».
For this reason, In Loco argues that “it is in the bet of a circular economy (from production to consumption) that the path to sustainability lies”.
This has been an investment by the association which, over several years, has been committed to developing projects that stimulate local production and consumption, promoting short agri-food circuits. This is the case of the 100% Local initiative, which focuses on these issues, insisting on the idea that both production and local consumption can make a difference in solving this global problem.
Food is what weighs the most on Portugal's ecological footprint and is also the component that consumers can most easily change. Choosing to buy local, fresh and seasonal products, produced in more sustainable ways, from small-scale family farming, and favoring short agri-food circuits that result in greater proximity between producers and consumers, are some of them of the habits to adopt.
The consumer's choice for local products arises, above all, from the degree of awareness and information held about food systems and the notion acquired about their ecological footprint and its impact.
The “Guia para Consumir Local” intends to contribute to this purpose, explaining the importance of food consumption in proximity circuits. The publication informs and supports decision-making and action to reduce the impact of each one of us on the Planet, providing a set of guiding instructions for the training of conscientious and responsible consumers who favor the acquisition of local food products .
The “Guia para Consumir Local” is available for download in the In Loco editions, on the website www.in-loco.pt, or directly by clicking here. It was created within the scope of the 100% Local initiative, co-financed by NOPLANETB-AMI, the Camões Institute and the European Union.
Get it for free and contribute to a more sustainable Planet through food!
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