At the “Young Europeans for Sustainable Food – YES Food!” summer campus in Turda, Romania held August 1-6, youth and students from throughout Europe have called for a new agricultural paradigm that encourages young generations to work in the agricultural sector and rural areas.
The closing ceremony of the campus’ first edition took place this morning, marking the end of Slow Food’s first summer campus for students and young people (aged 18 to 25) dedicated to food education and sustainability, organized by Slow Food Turda in collaboration with Slow Food and Terra Madre.
More than 80 young people (average age 23) representing 12 European countries* attended the summer campus, many of them students enrolled in food-related courses (agronomy, tourism).
They had the opportunity to share and deepen their knowledge on the protection and promotion of sustainable food production through a programme of workshops, tastings and on-site visits to small-scale artisan food producers in Transylvania.
The event also offered the opportunity for Slow Food to present its position paper, “Towards a New Common Agricultural Policy,” that advocates for a new European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that ensures food security and sovereignty, offers a response to the environmental and climate crisis and reinvigorates the economy and employment in the agricultural sector.
In their final meeting, participants launched a new Slow Food youth network in EU member states and candidate countries to further raise awareness among young people on the importance of influencing the new CAP. The group agreed to organize specific coordinated events on Terra Madre Day this year – the international day to celebrate local food and communities, taking place on December 10, 2011.
*Austria, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungaria, Ireland, Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, The Netherlands