Mercat Galvany

During my time in Barcelona, I noticed the cultural differences associated with grocery shopping and food consumption. In one of my classes, Food Systems and Sustainability, my classmates and I discovered that Spanish people tend to eat more locally sourced food. A popular tourist spot in Barcelona is La Boqueria Market, which displays the locally sourced and emphasis on fresh foods in the Spanish/ mediteraniean diet. 

While in Barcelona, I lived in Eixample a few blocks over from Mercat Galvany. This fresh produce market was where I did most of my grocery shopping with the locals. The market has interesting times because it is only open until 2 p.m. most days, meaning residents go in the morning to get fresh food. While shopping, I often found that people were only getting a few items for the day or next few days- which is different from the United States where people do their grocery shopping for a week, sometimes two. 

Mercat Galvany has an array of fresh food: including fruits and vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, and grain/ cereal stands. I liked this market more than La Boqueria Market because it is smaller and not touristy at all. Here it was easy for me to strike up a conversation with a vendor or a customer about how they were using these local products and what recipes they enjoyed most. 

Mercat Galvany is a great display of how Catalans use local food to influence their recipes. 

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