A new scheme to encourage new blood into the county's food growing industry is set to launch.

Producers across Kent say they've seen a huge downturn in the number of younger people joining the sector which gave the county its status as the Garden of England.

The first Rural Youth Ideas Festival is now due to be held at Bore Place in Chiddingstone, near Edenbridge from August 30 to September 1.

Organisers are calling on young people to drive the festival and encourage those aged 18-28 from Kent and Medway to breathe new life into the industry as it battles the challenges post-Brexit and the pandemic.

A wide range of fresh produce businesses and local authorities from across the county will be attending the festival with the aim to demonstrate the wide variety of skills required and jobs available to maintain the Garden of England.

It is aiming to "open the gateway" to full time, seasonal and entrepreneurial opportunities within the industry.

Carol Ford, from the Kent and Medway Employment Task Force and Fresh Food Production/Horticulture Task Force said: “This is essentially an ideas and knowledge sharing festival, a way for young people to engage with businesses and policy makers in the fresh food sector here in Kent and Medway.

"We want to give young people access to the individuals and organisations they wouldn’t normally engage with and we want to listen to them about the barriers that might prevent them from entering or progressing within the sector.

"Whether those barriers might be a lack of knowledge of the opportunities and skills needed by the sector to the physical barriers such as the lack of rural transport or the availability and affordability of rural housing.

"The loss of young rural people from their communities triggers a loss of ideas, energy and ultimately services.

"It’s very much a two-way process but we also want to challenge their perceptions about careers in the sector and to inspire them with stories told by people who have made a successful life around food and drink and to encourage them to think about what their role in these sectors could be in the future and how together we can all work to help them achieve it.

"Kent is still the Garden of England growing the very best quality, soft fruit, top fruit, stone fruit, salads and vegetables and with a growing viticulture sector however, it also faces an urgent and chronic skills shortage which is mirrored nationally."

She added the government needs to devise a "long term and joined up approach to help young people who wouldn’t normally consider this sector to see it as one they could excel in".

There has been a trend towards more healthy eating since the start of the pandemic and industry leaders hope to cash in and inspire the next generation.

The event will be run by the Rural Youth Project.

Jane Craigie and Rebecca Dawes, from the group, say it is an exciting and powerful way to inspire the younger generation and they have worked well across other sectors.

They said: "This collaboration, between people and businesses that are impassioned about encouraging local youngsters to consider a career in fresh food, will have a lasting legacy for the county.

"Our research, over the past four years, into the needs and hopes of 18–28-year-olds, has shown a deep love of the place they live in, but frustrations about the career opportunities, connectivity, and housing.

"At this event we will address these concerns by encouraging the attendees to imagine their future in Kent and Medway's fresh food sector."

To register for the event you must live in Kent and be aged 18-28. Apply at www.ruralyouthproject.com/act-do/kent-and-medway-rural-youth-ideas-festival

The festival is free to attend for those selected based on their application with food and accommodation provided.

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