Interview with Barbara Zrimsek, project leader of Young Village Folk
The younger upcoming content with people from rural areas, Young Village Folk has developed from a seed planted in 2013, with the series of stories, entitled Village Folk. This time the younger stories will not be presented only in the archives of Slovenian television and on the web, but also in the international European space for the following season. The editor and host of the show is Barbara Zrimsek, who after many years of reporting on EU policy began creating stories from different European countries, bringing good practices from genuine people, who innovatively benefit from EU reforms and who have respond to social, economic and climate change for the last ten years. All this is also common to the latest stories that will be coming onto our television screens and the web from the first Monday in November.
Barbara Zrimsek studied agronomy and worked on the radio while studying. After graduating, she began to prepare agricultural programs, for nearly ten years she worked as a journalist in the European Union's policy reports, and then began making short programs on EU citizens such as Eutrinek, Utrinek and documentaries From the Field to the Table, Terra Madre and others. All of them are common personal narratives of European citizens, demonstrating the European reality regarding the laws and reforms that impact our lives by as much as 80 percent, also crushing the stereotypes that food is linked to a farmer who owns a stable, on the contrary, there is a wide variety of people who are in a way not just farmers but also entrepreneurs. That's why the author wishes the multimedia project will connect young people from cities and the countryside.
"At the time of recording the first stories, we also met young, interesting, European farmers who convinced me that new green jobs in agriculture could be opened with ideas and courage. When we were applying for the project at the EU, we decided to prepare stories about young, innovative, European farmers - Young Village Folk, which will promote the ideas of young people in food production, "said the project leader and editor-in-chief of the educational program on National Television Slovenia.
People from the countryside, the stories of people who produce food in different European countries, which TV Slovenia will create with funds from the European Union, began a few years ago and resounded amongst viewers, receiving important European recognition in the field of communication with the broadest public. Then the governments of Poland and the Netherlands invited the team to create the same stories in their countries. In the first project entitled Grow! Food for the future, a number of new school gardens were created, which encouraged students to think about what food production means. It is clear to the author that this time the communication process with young people needs to be even more on the web. "All national TV stations in the EU currently have major problems of attracting young people. Communication channels are rapidly evolving and changing today; television without an upgrade to the web and social networks can no longer reach spectators, especially young people. That's why Young Village Folk's stories will be featured on both the online platform and social networks.
Inside the project, the stories of young people who produce food were created with our Finnish and Croatian partners in eight European countries. Besides Finland and Croatia, the young stories were captured in Bulgaria, Austria, Italy, France, Sweden and Estonia. And why are these stories so important for young people? "Global multinational companies are increasingly taking any opportunity to increase their hold on food production, which is destroying the position of farmers all over the world. They are increasingly investing in fertile lands, pressuring food prices, even at the expense of quality. Food is becoming a big business. However, on the other hand, more and more people are turning to "the the grass roots" again, wanting quality, fair food, opening up opportunities for young people, "said the acclaimed journalist accompanying the European agricultural policy, who is convinced that agriculture also brings opportunities to lower unemployment levels, especially among young people, which she would like to transfer to various informational channels.
Also for this project, the funds had to be found in Brussels. Continuing the series of young people from the countryside with an even more focused message is not an end in itself. But?
"Young Village Folk are life stories, they are real and I want to encourage as many young people as possible to open as many green jobs as possible in food production. There should be no unemployed among young people in Europe, this is massive responsibility for our governments and politics. Therefore, a project that raises awareness in young people about this is certainly closely connected with the public mission of National TV Slovenia, the project manager and the editor-in-chief of Young Village Stories thinks.
