Even today, the young people of peasant families are ashamed to recognize their origin and to talk about the domestic.
With the Ikas2deak project, to bring the different professions closer to school, each year I have the opportunity to attend a dozen CAV schools. Regarding food and agriculture, in the city or in the small town the motivation and connection of the students generated is very different.
Although I have not noticed so much in Álava, the burden of the words kaxero, borono or aldeano remains significant in the small towns of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. The decision to silence the experiences or desires of young people at school is a reflection of this situation.
In cities, the ignorance of what we eat is total. Young people in the Bilbao area are unaware of Idiazabal cheese. It is easy, therefore, to become aware that separating nearby, seasonal, fresh or non-chemical foods is impossible for them.
Both are interrelated. If society does not give importance to what it eats, it will be difficult for people who produce good food to value their work.
"The decision that young people in the hamlet silence their experiences or desires at school is a reflection of this situation. In cities, the ignorance of what we eat is total"
In Iparralde, on the contrary, I have the feeling that the pride of being a farmer has increased. The proximity marketing networks created by farmers in the last decade, the growth in food processing and the desire of people to eat healthy food have valued and made the sector visible.
A sample of this sensitivity is the acquisition by the city council of a plot of 20 hectares, declared agricultural in the urban plan and oriented to the production of healthy food for the country.
In our case, in the municipalities of the Mining Area there is still no agricultural or food department. Thus, surrounded by shopping malls, the choice and supply of food for citizens depends almost entirely on supermarkets.
However, the stress we suffer, pollution and diseases from industrial foods are also increasing the health and importance of food.
Thus, in the face of enslavement, precariousness and moratorium on the work that is taking place in our regions, and in the catastrophe foreseen by the coronavirus, agriculture can be one of the ways to live dignified, create wealth and do something socially useful.
It can even be strategic in regions like the Commissions, with land close to the cities, which are bleeding economically.
If you become aware of all this, it is time to banish the old complexes and seize the opportunities that we have. Peasant, laborer and proud.