Following the selection of primary schools for the school meal pilot scheme, location has proven it difficult for project partners to regularly keep in touch, given the large number of schools involved in the scheme. However with the help of Professor Dušan Petrić, a colleague from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Novi Sad, a second team of student volunteers will now help with Strength2Food activities in the Novi Sad area. Initially around twenty students responded to Professor Petrić’s request, with twelve students requesting to attend a meeting held at the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad on Tuesday, 3rd April 2018. At the meeting, Steve Quarrie and Ratko Bojović of EUTA-BSN presented the Strength2Food project and described the type of work currently ongoing in Novi Sad.
The students are all from the Faculty of Agriculture and range from undergraduates to PhD students and assistants. Their skills will be ideal for aspects of the school meal pilot scheme that look at the producer/supplier side of school food procurements. Several have said they are available occasionally during the day, which will be essential for school and producer visits. All students are keen to gain experience from working on an international project and to have an opportunity to practise their English!
Over the next few days EUTA will discuss with individual students a range of activities, including data processing and analysis to improve the productivity of the EUTA team. Their work will contribute not only to the school meal pilot scheme of WP9, but it will also help collect further data needed for WP6.3 in determining the impact of school meal procurement strategies on the environmental, economic and social sustainability of rural territories. Of the ten Serbian schools for WP6.3, seven are located in Novi Sad.
We are very grateful to these students for their enthusiasm to take part in Strength2Food and look forward to working with them on the project in the weeks and months to come.
