Youth exchange on environment and traditions around the plate
Should we give up our traditions to eat more sustainably, or can culture and sustainability go together? Six national groups cooked their traditional dishes, then cooked them again with a lower environmental impact.
Why
Traditional dishes are part of who we are, yet many rely on ingredients with a high environmental impact. Before the exchange, Kora explored these questions with a questionnaire for young people across Europe. One finding stood out: when choosing a more sustainable diet, many people look to other countries’ cuisines rather than adapting their own.
What happened
- Cooking workshops in pairs of countries: each national group taught the others some of its traditional dishes.
- From traditional to sustainable: at a big intercultural dinner, every group cooked its dishes again, this time adapted to lower their environmental impact, after calculating the CO₂ impact of the ingredients.
- Open space: workshops proposed by participants and staff, from fermentation and pizza dough to permaculture and upcycled garden boxes.
- Photovoice, a world café, theatre and daily reflection groups.
Results
- A cookbook made by the participants, with traditional and sustainable versions of the recipes from all six national teams.
- Average overall score: 7.7 out of 10 (31 responses).
“Learning about other countries’ recipes and the connection to their cultural identity.” (a Back and Forth participant, on what they found most interesting)
“I developed my knowledge about food sustainability, which was the most important thing to achieve and take from this project.” (a Back and Forth participant)