Colorado State University System
11/15/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/15/2024 13:43
Colorado GROW Youth Institute Q&A: insights and lessons from a global food summit
Colorado GROW Youth Institute Q&A: insights and lessons from a global food summit
Left to right: Kerri Conway, Millie Leubner, Kayla Shepardson, Anika Brockbank, Rebecca Popara, Aryn Baxter, and Manny Catala.
In April, the CSU System's international agriculture team hosted the first-ever Colorado GROW Youth Institute to engage high school students from across the state in studying and proposing solutions to global food security challenges. Thirty students gathered at the CSU Spur campus in Denver for the one-day event, presenting research on a country and global food issue of their choosing while interacting with experts from the community and from academia.
Based on their research and presentations, three students were selected to represent Colorado in October at the Global Youth Institute, an annual event held in Des Moines, Iowa, in conjunction with the World Food Prize Foundation's Borlaug dialogues. These students and a Colorado teacher chosen to be their chaperone recently talked with SOURCE about their experiences in Iowa and their perspectives on international agriculture.
Colorado's 2024 Global Youth Institute representatives
- Millie Leubner, a junior at Arapahoe High School
- Kayla Shepardson, a junior at Plateau Valley High School
- Anika Brockbank, a senior at the STEAD School
- Manny Catala, an agricultural educator at the STEAD School
* Aryn Baxter and I, as co-coordinators of the Colorado GROW Youth Institute, also traveled with the group.
SOURCE: What was the highlight of attending the Global Youth Institute?
Leubner: The group instantly clicked. We shared interests in global issues and the reasons we came to the conference, but we also were very different.
Shepardson: I really enjoyed hearing from all the speakers - especially Secretary Vilsack. He seemed like a great advocate for agriculture, and I really appreciated that as someone who comes from a rural place. I also enjoyed learning about agriculture in Africa, including hearing from the presidents of Sierra Leone and Tanzania.
Brockbank: Seeing so many people from different countries who care so much about agriculture, and also getting to learn how agriculture works and why it's important.
Global Youth Institute Students Visiting the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines, Iowa.
SOURCE: To attend the Global and Colorado GROW Youth Institutes, you had to conduct research on a topic related to food insecurity. What is the most important lesson you took from that experience and from attending the Institute? How does this connect to your own community?
Leubner: You really have to think out your solutions. You have to think critically and to revisit them over and over and over again. Also, for most of the experts and speakers, their ideas started local and then they grew. You have to draw from your local community because that impacts you the most, and you're going to be the most passionate about it.
Shepardson: It's difficult to find your way in agriculture and to find a community that can help you. I'd really like to look into how to build a network and see if we can build something similar in Grand Junction.
Catala: By doing globally focused research, students gain insight into how interconnected food insecurity is with various cultural, economic, and environmental factors. This experience can build empathy as they see that food insecurity isn't just a distant issue but also impacts communities close to home. They learn that complex problems require multiple approaches, that there isn't one solution to food insecurity, and that diverse perspectives are needed to make meaningful change.
Millie Leubner meets other participants at the Global Youth Institute.
SOURCE: What would you say to others interested in participating in the Colorado GROW Youth Institute?
Leubner: You should do it! If you go to the Global Youth Institute, you just have to be open to talking to people. I was surprised by how willing everyone was to just walk up to someone and chat with them. We don't really get that a lot at school, so it was a unique environment to meet a lot of people.
Shepardson: I would tell them how valuable the experience was to me. It was really interesting for me to see that, while not everybody comes from an agricultural background or wants to be in agriculture, they still want to cause change in the world and improve it.
Brockbank: Go for it! Do what you are passionate about!
Catala: It's an incredible opportunity for students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a way that's directly connected to their interests. Allowing students to choose their own country and topic gives them ownership of their learning, helping them engage more deeply while exploring the complexities of food security. This project not only highlights the intricate nature of global issues but also empowers students to see their potential to make a difference.
Photography: World Food Prize Foundation.
Origins of the Colorado GROW Youth Institute
In 2021, CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank and Kerri Conway, director of international agriculture at CSU Spur, attended the World Food Prize Foundation's Borlaug dialogues in Des Moines, Iowa, to launch the North American Agricultural Advisory Network, (the NAAAN), a tri-national agricultural network focused on extension and rural advisory services across Canada, Mexico and the United States. At the meeting, they met students from across the world focused on finding solutions to food security challenges, and they started a partnership with the World Food Prize Foundation Global Youth Institute to develop a pathway for Colorado high school students to participate in the annual gathering. The Colorado GROW Youth Institute, held for the first time this past April, is the result of that partnership.
"We learned that World Food Prize institutes are closely linked throughout the United States to land-grant colleges and universities, and that Colorado and other western states were not yet participating," said Conway, a CSU alumna ('85 and, '89) who joined the CSU System in 2018 and has worked in international development and agriculture for more than three decades. "Working together with partners throughout the CSU System and within the state of Colorado, including the Colorado Department of Agriculture, we focused on creating the Colorado GROW Youth Institute to ensure Colorado voices are part of the larger global conversations."