The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, through the General Directorate of Organic Agriculture and the Association for the Advancement of Mediterranean Agroecology, Al Munia, opens this Saturday the first organic farmers market in Andalusia, La Huerta at Velez Malaga. The project, conceived as a direct marketing of food from organic agroiculture, involves a total of twelve groups of organic producers in different parts of Andalusia, who will then sell the products grown and/or processed by them themselves, such as fruits and vegetables, preserves, extra virgin olive oil, bread, cold meats, cheeses, etc.
The area ready for the market, located on the Paseo de Andalucía, will also enable a tent information on organic agriculture and developed a set of parallel activities such as workshops, talks and tastings of organic produce. Similarly, the organization has planned the launch of a dynamic series of proposals aimed at different groups (students, families, groups, etc).
The market La Huerta, which was born with the desire to place a weekly basis, has as main objective to promote consumption of foods obtained through this agricultural system that produces healthy food, promoting the environment and biodiversity, thus enabling rural development and natural resource use for food of high quality with high nutritional value. The direct relationship is established between producer and consumer results in two benefits: increased confidence and better price.
Implementation of market gardening, which also has the support of the Municipality of Velez and the association of organic farmers, is part of institutional support of government sector, through the Andalusian Plan of Organic Agriculture (2002-2006), next to renovate, last year received more than 16.7 million.
Spain currently occupies first place in Spain in consumption of organic products, which meet all safety and quality in food production, handling and processing. The community also has the lead in area under organic agriculture, with more than half a million hectares, which has led to a growth of 400 percent in just five years. The bet Andalusian organic production falls by Spain as one of the EU countries with more surface of organic agriculture, 1 in 2 hectares of national territory is Andalusian. Also, Spain has over 5,400 traders, representing 30% of the national total.
By province, Huelva is at the top surface organic, with more than 111,000 hectares, followed by Cadiz (84,996), Seville (80,345), Córdoba (78,469), Granada (52,366), Jaén (47,302) , Málaga (33,233) and Almeria (31,827)
