Food, from ground to mouth

The project Foodprint gathers six secondary schools of agriculture from five European countries (Luxembourg, Poland, Netherlands, Germany and France) towards one objective: allowing students aged 16 to 18, studying in technological or vocational trainings specialised in agriculture, to study, exchange and produce technical and vocational projects according to their studies, thus enabling them to improve transferable skills. Foodprint is about food and about its production, especially the production of local food at local level. How this all happens is usually known regionally. Internationally this is becoming a lot more difficult. Are students, but also teachers, aware of each other's local specialties and how this is prepared? What makes the cheese so special in the Netherlands and how does it differ from the French Camembert? What does a German with the typical Brezen and what makes the Polish cuisine special? A typical local drink is made in the French region of Champagne. Champagne and the Luxembourgers have a mix of culinary cultures. A local specialty has a history and a bond with a specific country or region. It is a form of cultural heritage. But the production used to be different from what happens nowadays. There are undoubtedly many differences in the production process between the past and the present. Foodprint wants to introduce students, but also teachers (in total about 110), to each other's regional products. Tasting each other's specialties and getting to know how it used to be produced and how it is done now. Learning from each other's processes, preparing a meal together and sharing the recipes in the first year. In the first year a digital cookbook is made, in order to be able to make each other's specialties by passing clear instructions. In the second year a cooking channel will be established that relies on the recipes from the first year and will show how they are done. The students who will participate in the project are often locked up in their own representations. They will then have the opportunity to develop a real professional openness. The project will also develop their curiosity on the different methods, initiatives and culture of the partners. Also, the common work made by pupils from different countries, schools and trainings will allow all to know better the partner school systems in agriculture. Eventually, the communication with European peers will enable all the participants to improve their skills in foreign languages (English, French, German) and their skills in using ICTs. It will also familiarize students with the concept of direct marketing which is quite common and successful when talking about regional and sustainable farming and agriculture in general. They will be able to get an insight into it and, as future food producers, use it for their own purposes.