New Initiatives in the air: Youth Food Systems Fair

This past week has been really exciting for the Foodie community in Toronto.  As the ground begins to thaw the initiatives that busy passionate-young people have been working on all winter are thawing as well.  I would like to share several things that inspired me this week with the hope that they can inspired you.

On March 25th The Toronto Youth Food Policy Council partnered with Lauren Baker' s University of Toronto Food Security Class to put on the "Youth Food Systems Fair".  Thanks to the brilliant work of my favorite Wisconsinite Tracy Phillippi and the other committed members of the the TYFPC close to 300 young people came together to listen, learn and mingle.  Bordering the room were the artistic final projects of 30 or so U of T students who had gone out into the Foodie community and worked closely with various Local organization.  In the Middle of the room were maybe 20 local community groups committed to Social Justice Issues surrounding food in a career fair format.  Except instead of the traditional format of larger corporations sending out pawns to talk up their company and recruit file clerks and  mail-room-Representatives--those tabeling the event were founders and organizers, movers and shakers.  They were all full of energy and open to telling you about their mission and reaching out to all of those interested.  The powerful positive energy potentially connected 300 new young people to these organizations--some new and some older, but all with so much room to grow.  The event was Catered by my Group The Hot Yam! making sure to reinforce ideas of growth and connectivity with nutritious vegan curried lentil and squash wraps followed by chocolate cake (yum!).  For me the fair felt great because I got to see the hard work of my friends and colleges as organizers of the event pay off.  It is amazing what you can accomplish with motivation, inspiration and excellent time management.  It is easy to become discouraged and frustrated when you are working towards "the greater good"and it is easy to lose sight of the network of people and groups that are there in partnership and support.  It is events like these--that devote 4 hours on a Thursday night-- that connect the ever expanding community and prove to all those involved that their work is valued and supported while inspiring new people to challenge themselves and start even more amazing projects.