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“We continue to resist and connect with the wisdom of our grandparents on how to cultivate the land. [At the Intercambio] we learned new food recipes and we learned a lot about the different communities and the struggles for agroecology, native seeds and our inherited practices.”
— Youth Network Participant
In commemoration of Indigenous Resistance Day (October 12, 2021) the International Youth Network convened youth from over 12 rural communities and five countries for a 2-day mix-mode (virtual and in person) Intercambio (learning exchange) to make connections between food sovereignty and land-based struggles.
The Intercambio (Youth Exchange) is a time of collective listening and cross-learning. Youth share strategies that reconnect young people to the wisdom that informs agroecological practices and mends community relationships. In this year’s Intercambio, youth connected across their respective regions through song, poetry, murals, workshops and videos. Land defenders from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico shared their struggles for justice.
Youth from Quintana Roo, Mexico, and Watsonville, California, exchanged how the balance of community life and land stewardship is organized by their practice of milpa (growing corn, bean, squash and greens together). Youth from Veracruz, Mexico, shared knowledge about land-based emotional healing and traditional medicine.
Since the start of the pandemic in March of 2020 the Youth Network has strengthened its virtual organizing process where the entire network of youth coordinates and implements every aspect that made the Intercambio possible. Youth collective power is poweringa process and platform to convene, analyze, and commit to shared actions that contribute to the global agroecology movement.
