Slow Food in Canada is happy to announce the official creation of a Slow Food Youth Network in the country. The Youth Network’s goal is to engage more youth in ensuring the future of a good, clean, fair food system in Canada, where food would be prepared with respect and grown as sustainably as possible and where farmers and producers would get a fair wage for their work.
For the Canadian youth, food is closely related to the notion of pleasure. The network aims to change the food culture while having a good time, all while organizing fun events to raise awareness among young citizens and consumers to encourage and mobilize them in making responsible choices.
Across the nation, students, young farmers, producers and activists believe in a simple idea: if youth is the future of this country, and food is the future of the planet, the time has come for youth to gather and find solutions to the local and global food systems in order to ensure a sustainable future. “Canada is a young and diverse country in its food history and we have the opportunity to be a leader in building a good, clean, fair food culture”, says Duncan Ebata, Slow Food in Canada Board Member and Co-Founder of Slow Food Youth Annapolis Valley.
Education is key
Ensuring a good, clean and fair food culture is both exciting and imperative. In Canada, people waste approximately $14.6 billion worth of food every year at home, and 59% of adult Canadians are either overweight or obese, yet 1.14 million young Canadians are starving. These numbers have urged the young Canadians to take action. Rebecca Gordon, Leader of Slow Food University of Guelph, explains: “Having a youth group at the University of Guelph has educated students about where their food comes from. In a time where food skills and knowledge are rapidly being lost it is encouraging to see that our youth group continues to grow and other youth groups across the country are being established.”
The Network’s First Mission: To Join Other Youth Groups in Milan as Part of the World Expo
From October 3-6, an international event called We Feed the Planet will take place in Milan as part of the World Expo. Fifteen young producers from Canada hope to participate in this event to add their voices to the crucial, global dialogue on agriculture, sustainability and the future condition of our planet, all while building networks and making connections. A fundraising campaign has been set up to raise $30,000 in order to cover the roundtrip airfare for each delegate to Milan. For more information and to give your support, visit the campaign website.
People or groups interested in joining the movement or creating a local chapter can contact youth@slowfood.ca for support and resources and to know more about the upcoming events.