Year 6 students from St Albert the Great College, Valletta, are taking part in the third edition of a research and creative practice that focuses on alternative local community food economies.
The past two editions of ‘You Are What You Buy’ (YAWYB) have provoked and reacted to current issues on consumption and consumerism, offering alternative artistic and socio-economic experiences.
Inspired by the Arte Útil concept, this third edition, titled ‘Dak li tiżra’ taħsad/Reap what you sow’, draws on artistic and design thinking to imagine, create and implement tactics that catalyse social change.
“Within this context, the proposal aims to build ‘other worlds’ with what is at hand, as suggested by community economies – the understanding of ‘the economy’ as comprising diverse economic activities, aiming for more ethical economic practices that acknowledge and act on the ongoing interdependence of all life forms, human and non-human, thus creating a resilient and healthy circular economy,” project artist and arts educator Kristina Borg said.
In order to unpack such notions with the students, ‘YAWYB − Dak li tiżra’ taħsad/Reap what you sow’ proposed a hands-on experience and an experimental pilot project.
The students were introduced to the farm-to-fork strategy, so as to collectively create a healthy savoury snack, whereby the students were involved in all the design thinking process and all stages of the supply chain.
Borg and the students are collaborating with farmers from Biome Munch, organisation Ethico.mt − Green and Fair, and circular economy adviser and mentor John Ashlin.
Different stages of the project also included sessions with guest collaborators, branding designer Pawlu Mizzi, and authors and poets Miriam Calleja and Leanne Ellul.
Vote for the project
The third edition of YAWYB has been selected for the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023 in the ‘Education Champions’ strand, under the ‘Reconnecting with Nature’ category.
The project has been selected as one of the 61 finalists out of more than 1,450 applications.
If you believe that it deserves this nomination, you can cast your vote by following the steps below:
1. Visit https://prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu/finalists
2. Click on ‘I vote for my favourite projects’.
3. Enter your e-mail address > check your inbox > click on received link.
4. Find the project: Education Champions (yellow) Strand > Reconnecting with Nature category > You Are What You Buy project
5. You need to select one project per strand
6. Cast your vote until May 24.
Read more about the previous edition of You Are What You Buy here. For the latest updates, visit the project’s Facebook page
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