The plenary session of Cabildo of Tenerife has approved, with the votes against PSOE and Cs, a motion presented by Sí Podemos Canarias for the corporation to acquire, “in an extraordinary and urgent way”, a part of the food surpluses of the primary sector of the island.
The proposal, supported by PP and CC, states that the products purchased will be destined to public centers that provide services to citizens managed by the Cabildo or its public bodies, or to third-party entities. sector contractually linked with the island administration.
For the counselor Ruth Acosta, this approval contributes to the sustainability of agricultural and livestock productions, as well as providing fresh zero kilometer products for consumption in centers, soup kitchens and other entities dependent on the Cabildo or local administrations.
As an example of the importance of public administrations taking an active role in the output of products from the primary sector, Acosta cites the case of eco-eaters, “with whom the benefit is mutual, both for agricultural and livestock productions, as well as for the institutions, since good nutrition is promoted with the consumption of fresh zero kilometer products, and, at the same time, the work of the producers is made viable “, he asserts.
Ruth Acosta also highlights the need to “dedicate energy, resources and financing” to structuring and promoting short marketing circuits, “something that our group has been insisting on since the beginning of the mandate,” she says.
For her part, the island spokesperson for Sí Podemos Canarias, María José Belda, qualifies as “fundamental” that all this food surplus reaches those who need it most, “thus preventing all this amount of food from being wasted.”
Belda emphasizes the crisis that sectors such as tourism and hospitality are going through, which has prevented local productions from being able to give their products a commercial outlet.