Food security on a bioregional level

Madrid was provided for by its own vegetable gardens next to the river Manzanares and other streams, and from its immediate surroundings. During the process of demographic concentration, due to the establishing of the Court in Madrid, the Madrid market depended on provisions from outside for agricultural raw materials and on neighbouring towns for food: fruit and vegetables, wheat for making bread, legumes, wine, oil and eggs, and meat for its subsistence.

As a result of the proximity of the towns to the south, local faming in these municipalities started changing into a kind of agriculture geared towards covering the demands for foodstuffs in the capital. For many years, a certain balance was kept between the extensive systems of agricultural production without innovations and the urban populace.