Fatima Monji reflected on the recent Young Friends of the Earth Europe Food and Agriculture working group (FAWG) meeting which took place in Vienna, Austria from 13th to 16th February. Fatima is a Boardmember of FoodForward at Jongeren Milieu Actief (JMA) /Young Friends of the Earth Netherlands. In her own style, she shared her personal experience of the event.
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We arrived to Vienna for the FAWG meeting on Thursday. Orla Claire O’Halloran and Safia Griffin (FAWG members) presented the Food and Agriculture manifesto and reCAP campaign. We discussed previous campaigns and evaluated our work.
Friday 14 / 02
Around half past ten we took a little walk around the hostel; a beautiful view of the city of Vienna. Half an hour later we’re in a meeting. The main question: “What is our purpose/topic this year as the FAWG and how do we achieve our goal?”
Food waste! Meat production! These two themes were raised during the meeting. Everyone had their own opinion on these topics. Some thought it was important that we were focusing on the amount of food that is thrown away each year; others more interested in spreading information about the way animals are treated during production. It became clear to us that there is much to do to highlight these dilemmas.
After common lunch we started screen painting our t-shirts at the Global 2000 office. Everyone had to bring a blank t-shirt. We had to decorate the FAWG logo ourselves, which was fun. We intend to use the t-shirts during actions and events. After that we made digital valentines card for everyone, a decorated plate of various fruits and vegetables shaped into a heart. We wanted to show everybody that we love food, but in a sustainable and responsible way.
Not much later, Anna Cortesi (food expert from Friends of the Earth Cyprus) and Juraj Melichar (from Friends of the Earth Europe) gave presentations. Anna gave us some important facts about food waste. How is it possible to minimize the waste? She gave many examples that you should and shouldn’t do. For example, don’t buy groceries on an empty stomach and make sure that you stick to your shopping list.
Juraj talked about decomposing food waste. It means that you do not necessarily need to throw away leftovers. You can recycle them by using red worms. The leftovers will turn into a nutritious soil for plants. When this is added to the compost soil it increases the nutrients for plants and improves the soil structure and drainage. Anyone can use this tactic at home. You don’t even need a yard!
Late in the afternoon we started with the workshop by Anna Cortesi. How to make a vegan lasagne? It seems difficult, but Anna proved otherwise. Not only was it easy to make, but it was super fun to make as well. One of the FAWG members is allergic to tomatoes, so Anna made two lasagnes. It was delicious! Within seconds the lasagne was gone.
Saturday 15 / 02
The next meeting started around ten. The goal was to eventually make FAWG schedule. Many ideas came forward and there was a lot of group discussion. The meeting resulted in a time-scale for the year 2014. It contained the International days related to food and self-planned actions to be made.
In the afternoon we were in the Global 2000 office where we worked on a food campaign. This campaign not only puts an emphasis on food waste, but also on overconsumption and meat production. Why a focus on these three themes? These three themes have so much in common; they are linked. It is more effective if these three themes are linked together and then be brought to light. In the first few months, we begin to spread more information on these topics, so that more consumers and producers think more carefully about the consequences of these issues. Then we focus on the impacts. To what extent do these three problems affect our health, economy and society? Finally, we focus on the solutions to these problems and suggest alternatives. How can YOU as an individual contribute to this solution? This can happen on a local or urban scale. First we had to come up with a name for this campaign. After one and a half hour pondering about a good name, we finally came up with a catchy name! FOOD UNPLUGGED– as if we are going to expose a big secret to the world; secrets about these three topics.
In the afternoon we went outside to make Seed bombs. These are small soil-filled seeds you put in the ground. After some time the flowers begin to bloom and give it a more natural atmosphere in the area. Around the evening we went seed bombing in Vienna. Throwing them in places where there was soil. It gave us a rebellious feeling, because in the palm of your hand lays a little revolution – something that could change the face of the earth.
Sunday 16 / 02
We arranged a meeting in the Global 2000 office on last day of our FAWG meeting. We made a brief summary about the time scale. Action points have been reviewed and tasks were divided among the members. We realized then just how much energy we have put in over the last few days. We discussed a lot, spend a lot of time to come up with awesome ideas and we now know what awaits us in the future. What an amazing and effective this meeting was. So let’s move forward towards a sustainable and successful year!
