LA OSA is a participatory cooperative supermarket in Madrid, seeking to transform the food system for its hundreds of members and producers and consolidating a space of food sovereignty. In 2024, a group of young members of LA OSA undertook a collective process to attract more youth to participate in the supermarket.
One of the features that distinguishes LA OSA from a conventional store is the energy invested in connecting consumers and producers through a wide range of activities driven by the commitment and enthusiasm of its members.
Some of us young members first met during one of these activities, the 2024 Encuentro Campesino (Peasant Gathering). We coined the term ‘oseznas’ (little bears) to refer to our group, and began to hope that, little by little, more companions would join our gatherings.
These gatherings became a true space for cultivating relationships beyond the day-to-day life of the supermarket. We took part in workshops on honey, wicker and wine, while also becoming aware of the challenges faced by rural producers in our territories.
These spaces allowed us to share our experiences and perspectives on LA OSA as young members. Shared perceptions also emerged during our conversations, in particular on the importance of the sense of community fostered by the supermarket, and the discovery of a different way of operating.
In comparison to everyday experiences in other food consumption systems, the way in which a cooperative supermarket works is striking. Members perceive the care and solidarity they receive as central elements, and reciprocate by demonstrating care and solidarity towards the supermarket itself.
This is reflected in LA OSA’s different democratic mechanisms to select products aligned with food sovereignty values, in its various strategies to avoid waste at all costs, and in the collective care of the supermarket space.
Challenging concept to explain
As we shared these observations during our gatherings, the desire emerged to introduce LA OSA to more young people. We talked about how difficult it is to explain the essence of LA OSA to our friends, just as we ourselves had previously found it hard to comprehend. No matter how many explanations we heard, we could not fully understand the supermarket until we became a part of it ourselves.
Members perceive care and solidarity towards them as central elements
When approaching our friends, even though we could explain the concept of a cooperative and participatory supermarket – and could describe the space in detail – we felt that words were not enough. Our shared conclusion was: “If they don’t see it, they won’t believe it.”
After the gathering, we therefore decided to create a group of oseznas to think about how to share this collective experience we found so difficult to convey. We wanted to find ways to help people around us understand what this supermarket is, and what it feels like to be part of it.
LA OSA tours: An experience beyond shopping
At LA OSA, the experience goes beyond shopping. It involves sustaining the everyday life of the initiative: from operational tasks – such as working at the checkout, checking expiration dates and restocking products – to participating in different committees responsible for organising assemblies and events, promoting initiatives to reduce plastic, or coordinating teams.
All of these tasks form the foundation that sustains LA OSA, and they shape members’ experiences in a significant way. To understand this collective supermarket, we needed to engage with this everyday reality.
For this reason, we decided to design an activity aimed at non-members that would allow them to experience LA OSA from the inside. So were the LA OSA tours created: events designed to introduce friends and other interested young people – including the most sceptical – to the functioning and spirit of the project, first-hand.
During the design process, we started from our own experiences as young people involved in the initiative. We asked ourselves what prejudices might exist, what might spark curiosity, and which aspects of LA OSA could be most appealing to other young people.
The first tour was for people who were close to each osezna whom we thought might be interested. This, as well as subsequent events, followed a similar structure: a tour of the cooperative, a shared breakfast at the location, and finally a more theoretical presentation. We soon agreed that the core of the experience lay in the first two activities, centred on the senses – sight and taste – so eventually the more conceptual explanation was left for the end.
The breakfasts were collectively funded by the oseznas, and we selected our favourite products, creating a shared experience through taste as well. In organising the tours, we were not only sharing ideas but also building meaning together around food preferences.
After we had organised several tours, we took some time to evaluate. Some participants had decided to become members, and the experience encouraged us to keep exploring different formats to reach more young people. We thus expanded into new spaces, such as the university and a neighbourhood socio-cultural centre.
Expanding our reach
The Autonomous University of Madrid is located very close to LA OSA, so through the connections of some of the oseznas we organised an activity there. As we were in a space for knowledge production, we were interested in exploring the role of LA OSA through a deeper look at current food challenges, particularly in the Madrid context. At the same time, we wanted to maintain the approach that had guided the tours: prioritising sensory experience as a gateway to reflection.
Seeing and tasting as ways of understanding were brought together
For this reason, the talk was accompanied by a tasting of collectively selected products and a participatory workshop facilitated by colleagues from Justicia Alimentaria, an NGO ally that works towards transforming the food system. As we tasted the food, we posed questions such as: “What is LA OSA, and how do we, as young participants, experience it?” and “What potential does this type of initiative offer for building alternative food systems?” In this context, the initial premise – “If they don’t see it, they won’t believe it” – was complemented by another: “If they don’t taste it, they won’t know it.”
Into the neighbourhood
Later, we asked ourselves: why not also bring LA OSA closer to associations and collectives that, like us, place community at the centre? This led to an activity in a neighbourhood sociocultural centre. Thanks to previous connections, this was well received, and we were able to design a format that integrated both theoretical and experiential elements even more fully.
The proximity of the community space to the supermarket allowed us to combine all the dimensions we had been working on: a brief presentation, a product tasting, and a subsequent visit to LA OSA. In this way, the two guiding ideas of the introduction process – seeing and tasting as ways of understanding – were brought together. This activity not only strengthened ties with the local community, but also sparked the interest of new young people, two of whom decided to join the cooperative.
These experiences highlight the importance of co-creating processes from a youth perspective in dialogue with other generations to expand the social base of grassroots initiatives.
Through the tours and other activities, we were able to develop responses to a shared concern: how to convey the community culture that sustains LA OSA to those who are not yet part of it, through initiatives designed and carried out by ourselves? This collective story offers a small glimpse into the transformative potential of intergenerational action when it is built collaboratively.
Author: Gadea Claver Barrios (26) is a member of the governing board of the participatory cooperative supermarket LA OSA. She is currently a predoctoral researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CSIC-UAM) and is working on territorialised agri-food systems.
This article is part of Issue 4-2026: Youth leading the way in agroecology.
