To buy at the supermarket Valor Humano you don’t need money

Imagine a place where poor families can buy whatever they choose, with comfort and dignity. This is the idea of ​​the supermarket Valor Humano, the first social supermarket opened in Lisbon, in the Parish of Santo António.

What is a social supermarket?

It is a supermarket like the others, but this innovative initiative in the country aims to meet, in a dignified way, the needy families replacing the well-known bags of food delivered to the people in line. In addition, the project gives autonomy and power of choice to the supporters, allowing better food planning.

The supermarket offers not only food and hygiene products, but also clothing and even toys. Only meat and fish are not available for food safety reasons. The market products are the result of donations from local merchants and are intended only for residents of this parish, that is, more than 1000 people from 360 families.

The coin is Santo Antonio. Families receive a monthly “money” quota to buy the products. A liter of milk, for example, costs half of Santo Antonio. The great advantage is that each family has the autonomy to manage the budget and choose “what” and “how much” it effectively needs at home. In the future, a magnetic card system will be implemented to accumulate credits.

The project cost about two thousand euros to the Parish Council and it is hoped that one day it will no longer be necessary: ​​when this happens, it is a sign that all the inhabitants have better living conditions and can live without this help.

Article originally published in my column in i9 magazine on 05/16/2016 and updated on 04/22/2018.