Food is part of our everyday lives but we are not always aware: where does it come from, how much work is needed to produce it, how is it processed, how does its production affect climate change? Especially the younger generation does not have sufficient knowledge or skills to consciously use food products. Whereas, intercultural cooperation, as a response to global challenges, including food, is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Unfortunately, in the field of nutrition education, this cooperation has not been practically implemented at all. The Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and Slow Food Deutschland e. V. set out to change this by creating a joint project „Food - with tradition in modernity. Nurturing and developing the perception of the value of regional and seasonal food. Environmental communication and nutrition education in a European context".
The theme of the project is to preserve and develop future-oriented techniques for seasonal and regional food production depending on the season. In the context of intercultural exchange, the project focuses on traditional pro-ecological techniques and methods in the production and processing of food from Poland, which it enriches with solutions and ideas used every day in Germany. The traditional approach to the economical use of food resources, innovatively adapted and modernized, can provide fresh impulses for a sustainable food system. Based on this assumption, the project aims to teach how to make contact with nature and the environment, as well as culture and tradition. It encourages to appreciate the heritage of tradition, explaining its origins, recalling it and bringing it to life for present and future generations.
As part of the 'Food - with tradition in modernity' project, a comprehensive educational offer will be created and tools for implementing nutritional education will be developed. The key element of the project is the ecological garden, which will be built in the area of the Krzyżowa Foundation. In the garden, young people will be able to learn how to use food sustainably in theory and practice. It will be used by different age groups from different environments - schoolchildren of the Primary School from, neighboring Krzyżowa, Grodziszcze, as well as international youth groups. The second tool / place of education about sustainable food will be the Kitchen Laboratory - a workshop kitchen adapted to conducting classes with groups of young people. It will help rediscover traditional methods of food processing and sustainable use.
The educational materials developed under the project and the seasonality calendar that supplements them will serve as teaching aids for teachers and educators to conduct such education also in their facilities. The materials will enable young people to critically assess our food system and consumer behavior. The bilingual publication will present recipes and gardening experiences in the form of a seasonality calendar.
An ecological educational garden will be created in a participatory process involving employees of the Krzyżowa Foundation and a nearby school. Workshops on garden design and creation for teachers and multipliers are planned, during which both theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to establish an educational garden will be provided. The project runs from April 2020 to March 2022.
