Hello, my name is Matthew Neufeld and I am originally from Winnipeg, Canada. I am currently a member of the first international cooking class of the University of Gastronomic Sciences, a university founded by Slow Food and located in Pollenzo, Italy. Slow Food, a global organization that maintains that food should be good, clean and fair, founded the university in order to create an international education centre that works to renew farming methods, protect biodiversity, and build an organic relationship between gastronomy and agricultural science.

As you may know, a World Expo is taking place this year in Milan, with the theme "Feeding the Planet". Canada has decided not to participate, calling it a “second class event in a first class city”. With sponsors such as Coca Cola and McDonalds supporting Expo, its not hard to understand Canada’s decision. However, we believe that this unique event can provide a powerful opportunity for launching a critical, global dialogue on the future of our food and of our planet and that Canada should be heard too. While we can’t change the opinion of the Canadian government, we can do our best to insure that Canada has a voice.

From October 3-6th, the Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN), the youth chapter of Slow Food that brings together active, young Slow Food members from across the globe to raise awareness about food issues, will organize an event in Milan in October called We Feed the Planet (WFTP). The event will showcase the young, small producers from around the world that work with the soil and with the land everyday and understand the importance of a good, clean and fair agricultural system. In many ways, these are the real people feeding the planet. This event will give these young producers the opportunity to make connections, to build networks and to forge friendships in order to create a global community that can work together for the future welfare of our planet. This event will not only show our appreciation for their efforts, but it will also give them another incentive to continue their daily work and to help them learn from each other for years to come. We believe that the young producers from Canada deserve to be here too!

This fundraising site has been created to allow young producers from Canada to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime event. To add their voices to the crucial, global dialogue on agriculture, sustainability and the future condition of our planet that will be taking place in Milan this year. Through an extensive nomination process, we have selected 15 bright, young all-stars within Canada's food system that will make up the Canadian WFTP delegation. From farmers to fisherman to chefs to maple syrup producers to food activists. The funds raised will cover airfare, while the SFYN will cover accommodation, transportation, event fees, etc. All we need to do is get them there!

The goal fund for this campaign is set at $30,000 CAD to cover roundtrip airfare for each delegate to Milan by October 1st. This is not going to be an easy task, but with your help and if we come together as a nation, perhaps we can help tell the rest of the world what feeding the planet means in Canadian.

If you want to find out more about me please visit http://www.slowfood.com/expo2015/en/we-feed-the-planet-matty-neufeld-2/

if you would like some more information about the event, please visit the event website www.wefeedtheplanet.com

If you have any questions or concerns, you can also contact me directly at m.neufeld@master.unisg.it