Young talents from allover Italy hacking food waste

Yesterday the former president of the United States was present at Seeds and Chips fair in Milan. We were exceptionally excited to hear about his plans in the near future, namely the Obama foundation, as he stated “We want to create a global movement of advocates”

…We have already started Mr.President

The first two days of Seeds and Chips witnessed a gathering of high school students from allover Italy, from different disciplines including art, agriculture, science, literature and gastronomy. The young participants were engaged for two days in a co-creation event that we call Hackathons, a model we borrowed from silicon valley. We deeply believe that innovation is a collaborative effort, and can hardly take place otherwise.

The youngsters exchanged their ideas freely and casually, which was a refreshing thing to witness, giving us a powerful dose of hope in the future they will co-create together, should they take this spirit to their adulthood. This exchange simply generated explosive excitement and incredible ideas!

During the hackathon we also witnessed the power of cross pollination that brought together large institutions like #MIUR and #MIPAAF , the latest advancements in agricultural research and innovation in with #CREA, experts coming from large companies like #Camst and #Tetrapak , startuppers and innovative communities of practice like #Vazzap and #FutureFood. But the most important ingredient of all was the 70 students, coming from 18 schools spread in the whole country, representing different disciplines. The students were selected among over 60 applications, distinguished for their outstanding performance in ideating of concrete projects and their evident enthusiasm for innovation in the AgriFood sector.

This is only the beginning, the students worked until late hours to finalize their pitches and develop their ideas which were all exciting to listen to. Even those who didn’t win the three first places were keen on taking their projects further, believing in what they do.

Disclaimer: This post was written jointly with Sara Roversi.