Join the Young Future Food Movement on Campus
Let's shape the future of food together!

On May 24th, Future Food Utrecht, Amped, and Grounded organized the Kickstarter of the Future Food Utrecht Youth Movement to realize more youth empowerment and ownership in food-related questions and activities on our campus and beyond.
We called upon all Utrecht University students, young researchers, PhDs, artists, activists and food enthusiasts to join us at Fort Lunetten for an afternoon full of positive impact. The full summary of the event is available here. We were very happy to meet around 30 young people who shared their interests, perspectives and ideas.
We would love to see you again or get to know if you couldn't make it on 24 May. You can show your interest in the Future Food Utrecht Youth Movement by filling out the signup sheet. All details are below.
To inspire us, we first listened to inspiring talks by the following speakers:
- farmer Laura van Rossum, who talked about the only farm within the borders of Utrecht Municipality that she and her husband run in Haarzuilens;
- ‘Onze Groenteboer’ Fabio Vicino, who introduced his foundation and showed how it functions as a flourishing community-supported agricultural location;
- Farmer Miranda van Leeuwen, who explained why she loves farming in Amelisweerd
After that, we hosted several brainstorming sessions about the food-related topics that people present felt were the most pressing for a Future Food Youth Movement:
1. Educational Offers
2. Dealing with Food Waste on Campus
3. Diverse Food Options on Campus
4. Getting People Back to the Land
The enthusiasm for food on campus was clear as were the possibilities to create something that builds on the energy and ideas of the young people at the Utrecht Science Park and UU. As Simone Pekelsma, the director of Future Food Utrecht said: ‘This is an exciting moment. All the pieces to create this youth movement are here. We have the support of living labs, farmers, and organisations such as Grounded who will make their expertise and resources available, and a unique link between HU, HKU, and UU. What we need now is for young people to get organized to create this movement!’
With that in mind, we now set out the following steps:
1) Establish a Young Future Food board with a formal representative on the board of Future Food Utrecht
To create momentum for these and other ideas, we feel young people must be facilitated in getting organized and creating the institutional support for that. Therefore, we want to find 3-6 young people to form the Young Future Food Board. You will be the points of contact for young people who wish to get involved in activities around food. You can use this platform to raise awareness for issues around food in the university, bring people together, and get things off the ground. It’s up to you! As Future Food we will help by giving you visibility on our website, newsletter, symposium etc. One member of the Young Future Food Board will also join the senior board of Future Food Utrecht and in this way provide a much-needed voice for young people on the board.
If you are interested in joining the Young Future Food Board, then please submit your details by filling out the signup sheet
2) Create project champions
You can find a summary of the 4 project ideas that came out of the workshop in the summary of the event. Does one of these projects make your heart beat faster, and do you feel like this is something that you want to help realise during your time at Utrecht University?
If so, please indicate which project has your interest by filling out the signup sheet
After the summer, we aim to set up writing groups to develop these ideas. In both endeavours, you will be supported by senior members of Future Food Utrecht. Simone Pekelsma will contact all those interested in the Young Future Food Board and/or the different project ideas on July 5th to discuss further steps.