The ecological supermarket managed by the residents of Getafe

Can you imagine a supermarket where only organic products are sold? Do you dream of a store where there is no sign of plastic bags ? Do you fantasize about a grocery store where all the vegetables are made in Spain ?

Well, it exists. It is called BIOlibere, it is located in Getafe and has been created by a group of neighbors, who decided to set up their own economy to be able to consume organic fruits and vegetables without paying crazy prices.

In this small warehouse, located on Giralda street in this Madrid municipality, pumpkins from Aranjuez , eggs from Extremadura and meat from Segovia are sold , all without a plastic trail. In the commissary there are wicker baskets and customers come with their own cloth bag to load the products or provide them with a cardboard box to transport them.

In the store there are not only fruits and vegetables, but it also has a natural cosmetic section , increasingly booming, with facial creams made from raspberries made in Segovia or non-aluminum aloe vera deodorants from Irati (Navarra).

The market is based on members, who pay 50 euros a year of share capital for the cooperative, and another 30 per year. They also commit to work for two hours a month in the store to serve customers.

At the moment, the cooperative has 100 associated families , two hired people and another 150 regular customers. In return, they get discounts of 7% in the shopping cart.

"If you are worried about food and go to a supermarket, you have to read all the labels. However, this is a safe space . The closest possible product at the best price. It is a place where you can buy and exchange knowledge" , explains Emilio Lázaro, one of the promoters of the initiative.

La Osa, in Tetouan

They are not alone. In fact, the cooperative supermarket model is spreading throughout the region. In Tetouan, La Osa already works on Noviciado Street and, next year, it intends to make the leap to a 900 square meter store, in the La Ventilla neighborhood, for which 700 cooperatives need . On the top floor of the San Fernando Market, in Lavapiés, Supercoop also sells organic food and already has more than 500 members.

Emilio Lázaro was a teacher and social educator. For 25 years he dedicated himself to rescuing young people with problems, but "with the crisis everything went to hell," he says. So in 2014 he decided to try to set up an "with four bitches" commissary , that would combine ecology with social economy.

To do this, they were inspired by Park Slope Food Coop, an economist in the New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, founded in 1973 and which has become the largest cooperative in the US with 17,000 members.

With this formula, the consumer becomes the owner of the supermarket and participates in the management of the store. The partners contact farmers directly, so that intermediaries and prices are reduced considerably.

The fruits and vegetables of this supermarket in Getafe do not carry fertilizers or pesticides or nitrates, which are used to make plants grow faster: "In organic farming the yield is lower, because they try to create ecosystems so that the lands have an ecological variety. They are also not waxed so that the fruits are more attractive. In industrial agriculture, a high yield is sought, but the quality is minimal, " says Lázaro.

Seaweed workshops

It's not just about buying but also learning. Members can go to workshops of the most varied: from how to cook seaweed to how to grow seeds without chemicals or how to make pizza doughs. It is about internalizing a new form of consumption and breaking the routine of making purchases in the large areas of shopping centers.

"If you look, when you go to the supermarket, you lose a lot of time. Your leisure time has become a large area on the weekend to make the purchase. Although it is complicated, we want to change those consumption habits," explains Lourdes López, one of the cooperative workers who attends the counter.

Lourdes López was a child and theater teacher, but she also lost her job with the crisis and decided to reinvent herself. She recognizes that being in the store takes a lot of time and that, practically, her life has become BIOlibere, but she is also satisfied to be contributing to something positive for the planet.

"It is a lot of effort to be here, but you earn a lot in health and also, we contribute a lot to Spain emptied so that people can have a livelihood in rural surroundings," Lopez adds.

In early 2020, BIOlibere also wants to become a larger supermarket, about 200 square meters , so they are looking for a local. For this they have launched a crowfunding campaign in order to raise about 3,000 euros.

With this change they intend to achieve more variety of gender and lower costs , since the greater the number of products are ordered, the cheaper the price. It will be another step in collaborative consumption, because another way of consuming is possible.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project