Today, we celebrate the 2022 UN International Youth Day!

This year’s International Youth Day is themed around Intergenerational solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages, amplifying the message that action is needed across all generations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leave no one behind. [1]

Chris: When the kids saw me taking a selfie, I asked them to smile. They didn’t, they were shy. Then I reached out toward them for a high five. The smiles came! It’s that simple.

At WhatIF Foods, there is no voice too small, no contributor too young, and no step too insignificant to make a difference. We aim to enable and empower as many youths as possible through different touch points across our regenerative value chain, providing them with a platform to be heard!

Youths where our BAMnuts grow 

Since November 2021, we've been actively working with The Pond Foundation to team up with the local farming communities in Ghana. Our awesome BAMnuts are doing a great job with the farmers, introducing agrobiodiversity into our diets and restoring the soils. We want to celebrate the milestones achieved by the youths in Ghana as they have such a passion and joy for life, seizing the opportunities that are being presented to them. For example, for the secondary school children, even though getting to school is a challenge, there being no school buses, and schools being 5 kilometres out, the students are keen for education and walk daily to and fro, on top of their familial duties of helping out at home. 

One day, when Scott was about to go off to the field, a bunch of kids suddenly hopped onto the back of his truck. Scott and the team drove them safely to their school, which was 5km away.

To support the children’s hunger to learn and be educated, WhatIF Foods is supporting The Pond Foundation’s Hilary’s Kids Initiative, which aims to enable education and health services for the young ones amongst the Ghanaian farming communities. We believe education is one of the most effective ways to stop many of the most pressing issues humanity faces today!

Hajara, posing with our products!

Distributing school supplies as part of the Hilary's Kids initiative.

Older youths have also signed up to give back to the community. Hajara, is one of our liveliest members of the team partnering with The Pond Foundation in Ghana to onboard and collaborate with our partner farmers in the growing of the Bambara Groundnut.

“The Bambara groundnut is something that will improve our livelihood. In fact, I even resigned immediately and then hopped on this project. Together with our partner farmers, we identify the challenges within these communities, and we provide solutions to them,” said Hajara.

Hear more from Hajara here!

Youths where our BAMnuts are made into products

Within our team at WhatIF Foods, we have many young, inspiring leaders who constantly amaze the team with what they are capable of achieving. It is extremely encouraging to see young changemakers in our team putting in so much heart and effort and applying their versatility and skills to regenerate our health and the planet.

Our very own JuPin, who works on Innovations and Technology Translations on the WhatIF Foods’ team, has been a key anchor in our technology scale-up projects for noodles and other upcoming products, working with engineers twice her age in countries like Yorkshire, UK; Johor, Malaysia; and Mossman, Australia. Here are some of her wise words:

Photo from JuPin

“Have you ever heard - ‘You're too young or old for this?’ Everyone faces ageism, regardless of gender or race. I did not realise that I have the unconscious bias that someone younger will not be as mature as someone older. It was only until I stepped into the workforce that I felt the positive synergy when a group of people (the young and the experienced) came together and created a diversity of idea banks in the team. “Boomer” should not be a phrase we use to mock others - although cliché, we can all choose to be young at heart!”

Youths where our BAMnuts get consumed! 

We have also teamed up with a group of students from Indiana University to set up a WIF Brand advisory board to have open discussions and to seek their views on different topics. We feel empowered by their strong support along our Regeneration journey.

Want to join us and lend your voice? Reach out to us!

The power is in all our hands 

I joined WhatIF Foods because I want to see a radical 180° change in the way we treat each other, the world we live in and the way we grow and make food. I believe that the youths of today are not afraid of revealing unsavory truths and exposing hidden forces that shape what we eat today. We don't want to waste time pondering the obvious: why we've failed to solve this crisis with the same people and thinking that created it…If change doesn't happen now, our future well-being will be immensely compromised by an environment that will turn ever more hostile towards our children and us.

Many youths feel powerless and anxious about this uncertain future. But they have a substantial impact on our society. To create a true world for all ages, we must include them to galvanise transformative actions toward a regenerative global food system! Youths are the agents of change, entrepreneurs and innovators. We are all in this together. No matter what your age is or where you are in the world, the power is in all our hands, and all hope is not lost.

Let’s bring Regeneration to the next level! #BetheRegeneration

Not a stock photo, that’s actually me (second from right)

What's next?

Read all about the mighty BAMnut and its journey to your kitchen here.

Learn more about the show-stopping nutritional profile of BAMnut here.

Discover how biochar plays an important role in reducing our carbon footprint here.

Find out how we create a Better Better with our partner farming communities here.

References:

1. https://www.un.org/en/observances/youth-day