Available from Mon 16th March, Emergent Generation: Young Voices in Farming and Food asks young people in food and farming about how they see the future.
RuralPod Media and Meet the Farmers have collaborated with Emergent Generation to create a two-part podcast documentary about the future of food and farming to show anything is possible when young people are involved.
Emergent Generation: Young Voices in Farming and Food details how group members think and feel about the future, how they imagine it can be and what they are doing to realise their vision.
Emergent Generation (Em Gen) is a network of young people building a food system that nourishes people and planet.
Part 1 examines the future they want, hearing from several who have left other sectors to follow their passions and join the food and farming industry. They want it to become a well-paid, popular career route, with a viable long-term path – not a “strange curiosity”.
Their visions are bold and, by admission, sometimes idealistic, but not unrealistic according to those interviewed. Change they say is needed, “it has to happen.”
Part 2 shows how change is happening. Not waiting for permission to act, the episode visits two farms where young people are already generating the transformation they want. With a clear vision to ensure their aspiration is supported by action, they are also determined to share their experiences believing advocacy is central to their success.
The podcast was produced collaboratively between RuralPod Media and members of Emergent Generation, with EmGen members receiving podcast training as part of the wider project, including Iory and Madeleine, who present the podcast.
The project was partly funded through a Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) grant.
For more information about Emergent Generation and its work, go to https://www.emergentgeneration.co.uk