Twin Safety RD: "Thing that changed our lives"

This testimony of Ana and María Tavarez Méndez is part of the generation of Dominicans young motivated by innovation in the future of agriculture and the fight against hunger.

At the beginning of our undergraduate studies, we were told about scholarship opportunities to study food technology. We thought about computer science applied to food, which we found interesting due to our passion for technology, hence our passion for food safety begins.

In 2011, at the end of the Food Technology Engineering degree at the ISA University, we began our passionate career and after an incredible experience in supermarkets, then, we began to work since 2013 in various programs and projects of food safety and health in the public and private sectors.

Careers related to the agricultural sector are very important in our country due to the great potential of agricultural production in our lands and the exports of fresh fruits and vegetables, which represents a good opportunity for the professional development of young people. A big step we took was to pursue a Master's degree in Food Safety and Security, which then motivated us to create the RD Twin Safety Initiative.

We act as entrepreneurs and facilitators of awareness in relation to Food Safety in the Dominican Republic. We promote the creation of safety forums, including awareness through social networks and youth groups that motivate others to get involved and learn about the subject to enhance development opportunities in the food sector, which moves us to keep updating ourselves.

Our goal is to promote and improve a sustainable culture of application of Good Food Handling Practices throughout the food chain to help prevent Foodborne Diseases, this translates into fewer risks of contamination and less waste of the food to achieve one of the  Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger.

It should be mentioned that we belong to the Young Agricultural Committee of the Dominican Agribusiness Board. Also, we are part of the Volunteering "Dialogues of the Zero Hunger Generation ALyC" an initiative promoted by the FAO-Latin American Zero Hunger Ambassador, Guadalupe Valdez.

Some of the main activities that we have identified and that we are executing on a frequent basis involve the creation and design of educational campaigns, recommendations that include illustrative videos, trainings and printed material (brochures, guides, manuals, etc.) that are shared through the available social communication systems, such as social networks (Email, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and WhatsApp). These activities are very active and on social networks, we have publications every week.