U of A student selected for Bayer's 2021 Youth Ag Summit
Author of the article: Kellen Taniguchi
Publishing date: Sep 05, 2021 •
“Going through grocery stores, there’s a lot of plastic packaging and a lot of it is needless,” said Hardman. “Plastic clamshells are getting banned in places, so people are trying to come up with other types of food packaging and it’s not really effective. So my whole thing was if I can improve this, make it a little more sustainable, then I want to do that.”
Hardman said her project used a prototype made of sugarcane fibre sprayed with cellular nano crystals coming from wood pulp
Publishing date: Sep 05, 2021 •
Amanda Hardman, a University of Alberta student,
is one of just two Canadians selected for the Bayer's 2021 Youth Ag Summit.
PHOTO BY LARRY WONG /Postmedia
A Stony Plain teen is one of just two Canadians participating in the 2021 Bayer’s Youth Ag Summit (YAS).
The summit welcomes 100 delegates, aged 18-25, every two years and this year’s delegates come from more than 44 different countries.
Amanda Hardman, 19, is entering her second year at the University of Alberta and is studying sustainable agriculture. She said she knows her studies are a real-world problem and it’s something everyone feels an impact of and she’s excited to learn more at YAS when the delegates first meet this November.
“It’s going to be an amazing learning experience and I’m ready to soak it all in and take away as much as possible,” Hardman told Postmedia.
Hardman said a lot of her projects have focused on improving our food system and limiting waste, so when she heard about YAS she knew it was a good fit for her and submitted an application immediately.
More than 2,000 youth from nearly 100 countries applied for the Bayer’s fifth summit. Komie Hossini, corporate communications with Bayer, said applicants answer questions about their experience and motivation on why they want to attend the summit and submit a three-minute video pitch explaining their project idea fitting the summit’s theme of “Feeding a Hungry Planet.”
Hossini said each country has its own jury that goes through its applicants and grades them on a provided criteria which leads to the delegate selections. Emily Robb from Brandon, Man., is the second Canadian taking part in the summit.
Hardman’s project focused on finding an alternative to plastic clamshell packaging. The product she was working on used lettuce, she said, though other produce such as tomatoes could be used as well.
A Stony Plain teen is one of just two Canadians participating in the 2021 Bayer’s Youth Ag Summit (YAS).
The summit welcomes 100 delegates, aged 18-25, every two years and this year’s delegates come from more than 44 different countries.
Amanda Hardman, 19, is entering her second year at the University of Alberta and is studying sustainable agriculture. She said she knows her studies are a real-world problem and it’s something everyone feels an impact of and she’s excited to learn more at YAS when the delegates first meet this November.
“It’s going to be an amazing learning experience and I’m ready to soak it all in and take away as much as possible,” Hardman told Postmedia.
Hardman said a lot of her projects have focused on improving our food system and limiting waste, so when she heard about YAS she knew it was a good fit for her and submitted an application immediately.
More than 2,000 youth from nearly 100 countries applied for the Bayer’s fifth summit. Komie Hossini, corporate communications with Bayer, said applicants answer questions about their experience and motivation on why they want to attend the summit and submit a three-minute video pitch explaining their project idea fitting the summit’s theme of “Feeding a Hungry Planet.”
Hossini said each country has its own jury that goes through its applicants and grades them on a provided criteria which leads to the delegate selections. Emily Robb from Brandon, Man., is the second Canadian taking part in the summit.
Hardman’s project focused on finding an alternative to plastic clamshell packaging. The product she was working on used lettuce, she said, though other produce such as tomatoes could be used as well.
“Going through grocery stores, there’s a lot of plastic packaging and a lot of it is needless,” said Hardman. “Plastic clamshells are getting banned in places, so people are trying to come up with other types of food packaging and it’s not really effective. So my whole thing was if I can improve this, make it a little more sustainable, then I want to do that.”
Hardman said her project used a prototype made of sugarcane fibre sprayed with cellular nano crystals coming from wood pulp
.
Amanda Hardman, a University of Alberta student, is one of just two Canadians selected for the Bayer’s 2021 Youth Ag Summit. PHOTO BY LARRY WONG /Postmedia
Virtual summit
The pandemic forced YAS to go virtual for the first time this year and it will also be the first summit with YAS University — a program that allows delegates to complete weekly assignments that help with their individual project concept for 10 weeks following the summit beginning in January.
“It’s going to be interesting, we’re going to be learning a lot from industry professionals from across the world, so I am really looking forward to that,” said Hardman.
Hossini said usually delegates would spend a week together working side-by-side, on professional development and hear from speakers.
Bayer recognizes the importance of getting youth involved in agriculture careers, he added.
“This is a massive global problem where youth coming in at this age in the Youth Ag Summit, they’re the ones that have the opportunity to tackle it and in all honesty, in 2050 they’re going to be the ones tackling that problem,” said Hossini.
“There are opportunities in ag and there will be far more jobs than we can possibly fill, so I want youth to take a look at agriculture for their future
Virtual summit
The pandemic forced YAS to go virtual for the first time this year and it will also be the first summit with YAS University — a program that allows delegates to complete weekly assignments that help with their individual project concept for 10 weeks following the summit beginning in January.
“It’s going to be interesting, we’re going to be learning a lot from industry professionals from across the world, so I am really looking forward to that,” said Hardman.
Hossini said usually delegates would spend a week together working side-by-side, on professional development and hear from speakers.
Bayer recognizes the importance of getting youth involved in agriculture careers, he added.
“This is a massive global problem where youth coming in at this age in the Youth Ag Summit, they’re the ones that have the opportunity to tackle it and in all honesty, in 2050 they’re going to be the ones tackling that problem,” said Hossini.
“There are opportunities in ag and there will be far more jobs than we can possibly fill, so I want youth to take a look at agriculture for their future
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