Shepherds of Oviaragón awarded by the Rural Studies Foundation

The Rural Studies Foundation wants to honor the Oviaragón cooperative, part of the Pastores Group, for its more than 35 years of work. Since its inception, as a result of several cooperative agreements during the 1980s, Oviaragón has made a decisive contribution to improving the lives of sheep farmers, creating its own marketing channels and a whole support network for the farms of its members.

In the words of a multi-generational farming family, “Oviaragón-Pastores Group meant that farmers no longer had to wait for traders from Catalonia to come and buy the lambs.” With Oviaragón, the sheep sector was empowered, changed for the better, and began to sell in an organized manner. Today, the cooperative comprises nearly eight hundred shepherds with almost 400,000 sheep that bring life to four hundred villages.

The dignification of the work of shepherds and the promotion of the values of this profession, so well summarized in their motto “noble character,” make this not the first award Oviaragón has received. In 2005, they received the award for the best food company in Aragon, in 2007 they were given the same award but at the national level, and in 2009 they received the award for the best European agri-food cooperative.

Sustainability, respect for the environment, the importance of extensive sheep farming as land managers, the pursuit of profitability by weaving networks with consumers, the generous transfer of knowledge, etc. All these are more than sufficient reasons for the Board of Trustees of the Rural Studies Foundation, which unanimously decided to award the 2018 Politics, Economy, and Social Sciences Award to the Pastores Cooperative Group-Oviaragón.

The Rural Studies Foundation awards were created in 2000, and recognize the work of individuals, institutions, and initiatives that stand out in their defense and support of the rural world and its inhabitants. The 2018 Politics, Economy, and Social Sciences Award will also be presented to Miguel Ángel Revilla, president of Cantabria. The awards ceremony for this edition will take place at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Council (CES) on June 28.

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