On Friday, the 24th May, Member of the European parliament (MEP) Zofija Mazej Kukovič and her team Požen? Evropo (Start-up Europe) organised educational and social event Food for health and workplaces in Hribar villa in Cerklje na Gorenjskem. The event was intended for all registered for the contest Food for health and workplaces and served as an opportunity to exchange experiences and good practices. To all, who are in their own way ambassadors of love and respect for soil and healthy life, they prepared an interesting programme. In her opening speech Mazej Kukovič congratulated everyone for their courage and active participation in this project. ?The problem today is that we are often not friendly enough to our body. As a MEP I am in contact with many people and I notice a lack of awareness about importance of food and about what we can do for our health on our own?.
Prof. dr. Janez Bogataj, at a workshop titled Indigenous dishes of our grandmothers, pointed out that Valentin Vodnik 200 years ago already knew how important healthy food is as he wrote ?End of cooking is to maintain health, dishes are medicines for??
Prof. dr. Borut Likar also participated on this educational and social event with his workshop Innovation among soil, food and health. Prof. dr. Likar thinks ?innovation in the agricultural sector in Slovenia is still under-utilized, with few rare positive exceptions. Tamara Urbančič navigated the workshop Let?s revive forgotten varieties, where participants obtained numerous information about production and preservation of seeds. Extreme athlete Davo Karničar hosted the workshop Dependence of mental and physical condition on food. ?If I am able to ski from Mount Everest eating potato, ?žganci? and other simple food, that speaks for itself?, he was convincing.
Participants reported about novelties and new ideas they have. They all agree that it is of high importance to raise awareness among children and that we can all gain a lot from intergeneration cooperation. In general more cooperation between researchers and practice is needed. Mazej Kukovič ended with encouraging words: ?To have contact with soil is not only about production, but also about inner satisfaction. We also have to think about entrepreneurship, to connect a hoe and computer, labour and knowledge. Only few people are aware that we must find solutions within ourselves. Solutions are in us?.
