FADEMUR reduces carbon footprint in food thanks to the Redmur program
The Federation of Rural Women’s Associations (FADEMUR) has been promoting the reduction of the carbon footprint in food, through the program “Redmur: Network of entrepreneurship and socio-labor insertion for the diversification of sustainable activities in the rural environment”, in Which involved artisans and entrepreneurs from Galicia, Extremadura, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid and the Valencian Community. A work that has materialized in the realization of the detailed study of carbon footprint of sugarless and ecological chestnut jam, one of the star products of the artisan company Caurelor, based in Quiroga (Lugo).
With the analysis of the carbon footprint of this sugarless and ecological chestnut jam production managed by a rural woman, the Federation of Rural Women’s Associations has recently completed its Redmur program. Caurelor marmalade is made in a traditional way using only the chestnut of Folgoso do Caurel, located in the Red Natura 2000 zone, without any additional components.
For the study, the PAS2050: 2011 methodology has been considered, analyzing the life cycle “from cradle to door”, that is from the works in the chestnut tree to the packaging of the jam.
The calculated carbon emissions conclude that this marmalade is a product “with no carbon footprint” for its “artisanal processing and natural collection”, with an excellent score that gives it the seal “Product Star Environmental” of Fademur
Solid Forest, a specialist in technical and environmental consulting, has been in charge of carrying out the study.
Program closure
Also within the development of the program has selected eighty entrepreneurs who have participated in a series of socio-labor insertion itineraries. Thanks to the program, four autonomic entrepreneurial fairs have been organized with the aim of making women’s productions more visible in rural areas. These fairs have been, according to Fademur, “a success”, reaching more than 8,000 visitors in all participating communities.
The program also incorporates an Online Training Platform with an offer of thirteen free courses that can be attended by anyone interested in the agricultural and livestock sector, or artisans and entrepreneurs who work in the rural area. The online courses totaled 590 beneficiaries, surpassing also another of the objectives of the program. In terms of visits to the project website, almost 5,000 visits have been made throughout its development.
As a novelty, a new highly demanded course under the title “Circular Economy” has been incorporated into the platform of the program, it has also included the practical realization of an example of life cycle analysis using professional software for calculation of carbon footprint “Air.e”, which has allowed the students of Fademur to train in depth in the calculation of carbon footprint.
The objectives of the Redmur program are to sensitize and train entrepreneurs who are currently producing, transforming or providing services in rural areas, in new sources of employment through sustainable, quality and integrated local production systems in short marketing channels, bringing the use of new technologies closer to reducing the digital divide between rural and urban areas. This program has been launched thanks to the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality in its call for income tax.
Source: FADEMUR