The Next Generation

Using the convergence of Agri-Food, Health, the Environment, and the Media to Transform the Perception and Role of Agriculture in Ontario

This work-in-progress proposal, is a larger extension of the To Our Good Health - Youth Engagement initiative.

As young leaders such as Severn Cullis-Suzuki have noted, there is tendency to view our problems independent of one another, rather than integrated and connected. Thus, we strive to address food quality issues independent of the security needs of individuals in our community regarding access to healthy eating options, or view what is grown (and how it is grown) apart from the surrounding environmental conditions. Such an approach ignores the interconnections between health, the environment, social justice and economics rather than views them as part of a larger system.

In this new proposal, we seek to provide an alternative strategy which will be led by youth working in close partnership with leaders in agriculture, industry, academia, and the health sectors.   The ultimate aim will be to create an integrated network of projects specifically designed to increase social awareness of the links between food and the social world we inhabit.    

Drawing on the energy of youth, the wisdom of expertise brought together through the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, and linking these through information technologies and media arts, this five-year research program seeks to transform our understanding of the interconnectivity between food and the community, while at the same time, fostering leadership among both urban and rural Canadian youth.