The aim of the last study session ‘Feed it Forward’, organised by Rural Youth Europe in conjunction with The European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA), was through understanding food as a human right in terms of availability, access, health and sustainability, to provide awareness of the consumers’ choices and how to empower rural youth in the sustainable change of the food systems, as well as to reflect on the contradictions in our current food system: obesity, malnutrition and food waste.
Through a series of activities and speakers, participants were taught about climate change, alternate food systems and meat vs plant-based diets. Each participant was asked to bring a recipe from
their home country. The learning outcomes from the week on how to make food more healthy and sustainable were then applied to the recipes while trying to keep in mind the cultural importance of food and culinary practices.
How does the cookbook work?
Each participant in the study session submitted a recipe. The idea of the activity was to highlight what kinds of things we can do to make food more sustainable and healthier, but also to respect that food is a very personal, very cultural thing and that it is not always as easy simply making these changes. All participants were put into groups and all the recipes of one group were swapped for the recipes of another. This ensured no one was working on their own recipe. Then everyone was asked to consider the learning outcomes of the week. Everyone was asked to consider for each recipe could be made healthier or more sustainable by swapping an ingredient for an alternative or by using a specific type of food system. Once all observations were made and marked for each recipe they were swapped back so that each suggested change could also be looked at from a cultural point of view to discuss that even if it is healthier or more sustainable, it might not be culturally acceptable to make that change! So have a look through the recipes and enjoy. Alternate food systems and definitions can be looked up in the back of the cookbook!
CLICK & DOWNLOAD THE SUSTAINABILITY COOKBOOK!
Rural Youth Europe
Rural Youth Europe is an international youth organisation dedicated to the empowerment and activation of young people in the countryside. Through organising trainings, teaching and events, Rural Youth Europe aims to engage young people and help them develop skills and friendships that will help them through life.
CEJA
CEJA acts as a forum for communication between young farmers and European decision-makers. Its main objective is to promote a younger and more innovative agricultural sector across the EU-27 and to create good working and living conditions for young people setting up in farming and those who are already “young farmers”.