Support to Agriculture and local products - zero km products, reduction of carbon footprint, sustainable rural economy

“Support to Agriculture and local products - zero km products, reduction of carbon footprint, Sustainable Rural Economy”: The above mentioned project has its roots in the first period of COVID 19 pandemic. Due to the curfew measures, the closure of several activities and the strict travel restrictions between neighbour regions, the city of Edremit experiences a general lack of food supplies. In order to cope with the temporary isolation and the shortage of fresh foodstuffs, Edremit Municipality responded to the above mentioned temporary emergency making agricultural wastelands productive. In collaboration with the Edremit Cooperative of Local Farmers, Edremit Municipality made available several agricultural lands in order to be cultivated for the production of vegetables. The initiative, which took several months in order to respect the natural development of the plantations, wanted to be a symbolic action meant to drive the attention of citizens and community to the advantages of zero km home agricultural market. In an unexpected way the initiatives found favour with the majority of our citizens who started to prefer the products cultivated in Edremit. As the request increased the Cooperative of local farmers started to increment the production selling the products of the local market. The project became an example of sustainable rural economy with low environmental impact. Afterward, similar policies have been taken into consideration by other cities and municipalities.