In Mexico, 7 out of 10 university graduates do not find employment due to lack of work experience. The lack of spaces that provide opportunities for young people is one of the most common reasons for being unemployed. Oaxaca is the first state in poverty in Mexico, and it contrasts greatly, since it is the richest state in biodiversity and endemic products. Oaxaca is an ethnogastronomic center and is losing much ancestral knowledge of its cuisine due to lack of interest and globalization.
In Oaxaca, only 1 in 10 young people have access to a job opportunity according to their profile according to ILO studies. Although the Mexican government currently has a Training program, it only benefits a very small sector. The most important economic sector in Oaxaca, are services such as tourism. At the moment the ancestral knowledge of the kitchen contains many secrets but as time passes, processes, ingredients and products are being lost and young people are little interested.
Building a foodlab in the city we can have a comprehensive approach, where we can provide cooking classes, conduct youth training with the interest of learning from local cuisine, we can focus on recovering ancient recipes. Within the process we will do training through resources such as cooking classes, workshops and dissemination and training materials that help make significant food changes. This will strengthen the culture and we will not forget our traditions or culture.
The knowledge of grandparents is a fundamental part of our culture and our history. Through a foodlab it will allow to practice, prototype and design new products, we will rescue this knowledge, such as unused recipes, unused processes, instruments and products and ingredients to use them in current ways. At the end of the day, young people will learn to cook and in the process they will be trained and gain work experience and in the long term they will transform the community through food.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
