Marta Palomas

She studied agricultural technical engineering at UPC and agronomy at UdL, specializing in plant production and gardening. Her first job was in the world of gardening, and it was disappointing, which led to a career change. However, she returned to agronomy, not from an engineering position, but as a farmer, working the land. In Belgium, she worked on small organic gardening projects like ‘t Legumenhoffke, De witte beek, Gwenael Dubus, also in a family-owned organic fruit company at Appelfabriek and in a small organic food store, The food hub Leuven. In Belgium, she discovered a different way of farming and how to make it valued by consumers.
When she returned to Igualada, she met the Col·lectiu Eixarcolant, which promotes a change in the agri-food model through forgotten plants. Initially, she did volunteer work there, but she ended up working there, and it’s been almost 6 years now. Over time, she has been responsible for the maintenance of the seed bank, the multiplication of varieties, crop planning, management of the gardens, and seed sales.
The collective is a member of the Xarxa Catalana de Graners, which brings together the different seed banks in Catalonia to work together and help each other.