The project aimed to bring together young Europeans from four countries to collaborate on addressing food insecurity, while fostering active participation and transnational cooperation. More specifically, the project pursued several concrete objectives. Firstly, it aimed to develop a comprehensive understanding of food insecurity, including its underlying causes, and the systems implemented at national and European levels to address it. Secondly, it sought to provide young people with a space to express their experiences, perspectives, and challenges related to this issue, and to empower them to propose solutions. The project also aimed to promote the exchange of existing practices and initiatives across partner countries, through online workshops and seminars combining theoretical inputs, practical approaches, and meetings with relevant actors. In addition, it intended to raise awareness among young people about food-related issues, while encouraging more sustainable, healthy, and responsible consumption patterns. Furthermore, the project aimed to support the development of concrete local actions addressing youth food insecurity, combining learning, experimentation, and implementation of innovative solutions.
The project’s idea comes from a group of youngsters (18-30 yo), called Angry but Solidary (Vénères&Solidaires in French) which started in 2020. They set up this group in order to have a space to express themselves (especially after the Covid), to exchange with others and to take actions for the common good through participatory and inclusive workshops. They chose the “fight against food insecurity” for 3 main reasons: Some of them personally experienced the situation and/or knew close friends being affected; They noticed also that an increasing number of young people, including students,are struggling to feed themselves, not only in Marseille and in France but also in other EU countries; They decided that it was crucial to take action to fight it and started to organise “solidarity meals”. Eager to find solutions, draw inspiration from other initiatives, and take collective action at multiple levels, they sought to connect with young people from other countries who shared an interest in or were already engaged with the issue. We supported them by identifying European partners and guiding them through the process of anErasmus+ project submission.