Irapuato, Gto. November 7, 2018.- The Department of Agronomy of the University of Guanajuato (UG) and the French NGO Let´s Food Association, agreed to collaborate in the project "Let´s Food Cities" which aims to encourage cities to realize more sustainable food systems, in order to encourage cooperation with Bordeaux, as its sister city.

The representative of Let´s Food, Anna Faucher, accompanied by the agricultural Louison Lançon, visited the Division of Life sciences (DICIVA) to work with professors and students from the Agronomy and Agribusiness programs, showing their interest in knowing what type of projects developed by university students with producers and companies in the agri-food industry.

Dr. Armando Rucoba García, Director of the Agronomy department and Dr. Jesús Hernández Ruíz, coordinator of the Agribusiness program, attended the visitors, with whom they agreed on different collaborative activities, such as evaluating the system Food from Guanajuato and Bordeaux, participate in a multilateral workshop that includes the municipality, producers, universities, civil society and the private sector to identify key priorities and opportunities for improvement.

The Department of Agronomy identified students who perform the food system assessment with the methodological framework of the non-governmental organization consisting of a problem tree. In the first stage, students review the bibliography and collect data on agricultural production in Guanajuato. They then visit small, medium and large-scale producers of basic grains, vegetables and strawberries, dairy processing systems, organic products, etc., observing and conducting interviews about their production systems.

The next step is to suggest improvements to the local production system and to match the systems used by producers in Bordeaux, France, where there are protected areas for agriculture, thus preventing urban and industrial growth engulfing suitable soils for food production.

The final event will be the presentation of results of the study and implement a program of improvement in food and agriculture in Guanajuato and Bordeaux. Also, as part of this agreement, the Director of the Department will participate in an international network of researchers to share relevant material.

Anna Faucher indicated that the Let´s food Cities project that began a year ago, works within the framework of cooperation between 7 French cities, 24 universities and 7 foreign cities, committing to work in sustainable food in your city.

For the state of Guanajuato, it was proposed to cover issues of sustainable food systems, production, distribution, consumption, and for that they came to dialogue with the different actors of the territory, to know the way in which they work and to show them sustainable initiatives with student support by making the diagnosis of their cities.

She explained that in her country they work in addition to the cities, with the Ministry of the Environment and private foundations that support a summer campus for students and young professionals working on food issues.

Both have been traveling in Guanajuato for two weeks, state they consider "is complicated because the economy is based on large farms and companies, producers think they have achieved much by exporting, but the money does not return to the territory, so it requires Initiatives in schools to change the way of thinking, eating and producing, that the population choose local and organic products," said Faucher.