Students must be active leaders in agricultural issues

On Wednesday, June 3, the video conference “The Renaissance of local food systems and sustainable communities” was organized by the UDA School of Food Engineering.

The speaker was Claudia Carter, who is Executive Director and Director of Laboratories of the California Wheat Commission, United States, who agreed to write a column for our Campus on the theme of her conference:

At a time when food security is being put to the test, and to some extent in danger, we ask ourselves how we are going to face challenges in the future.

Communities must question, learn, and act to create positive changes that prepare them to face difficulties focusing on agriculture and the development of local and long-term sustainable food systems.

To do this, we must prepare a society and a group of students who are empowered thanks to the education and guidance that is offered within the Universities. Students are in universities because they understand how important academic preparation is to their future, but they also have the desire to create positive change in their country and in their community.

Let's take advantage not only to teach them the theoretical, but also to give them tools to create organized systems that take the future forward, in this case of the farmer and the value-added products that are developed thanks to this approach.

Students implement research in agricultural fields with new technologies and enrich themselves by working in the field with the farmer. We empower the student to work in multidisciplinary teams and learn from different perspectives to achieve a common goal.

I propose to students to be active leaders in their communities to bring change in the area of ​​agriculture specifically, since producers are the heroes in this pandemic and those who are coming, who produce the most essential thing is access to food.

It must also be understood that, without that farmer with the necessary tools and with new technologies, they will not be able to continue producing food for our community.

You students will be part of creating a support system for producers who, by helping them, will help an entire country. In the end, we train leaders in resilient communities that support and help each other without depending on assistance that may - or may not - come from outside.