Eli started volunteering at our Lincoln Farm in the spring and has found satisfaction and inspiration at The Food Project. “There’s something about moving through the steps on the farm that is so satisfying— this work has a beginning, a middle, and an end,” she said. “It’s immeasurably satisfying to see the results of the labor.” Eli continues to be inspired by our farm staff’s dedication to the food justice movement and has even started to push the envelope of sustainable practices in her own vegetable garden. This winter, she plans on planting a cover crop to rejuvenate the soil!
pounds of produce donated to hunger relief julia f. { 17 • hamilton } organizations Through her experience at The Food Project, Julia
developed a passion for food justice. She had the opportunity to share her knowledge and passion with others at the Rooted in Community conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In addition to creating learning objectives and updating our curriculum, we also changed the names of our programs after months of deliberation with youth and current staff. The new names are a departure from a seasonal approach to an intentional description of our work—in essence, one program with three expressions—all starting with Seed Crew in the summer.
Seed Crew (formerly known as Summer Youth Program or SYP) The DNA of change: explosive potential, strength in diversity; the starting point of growth. Seed Crew is a seven-week summer opportunity for youth to grow produce on urban and suburban farms while developing civic engagement and teamwork skills in a diverse setting.
Dirt Crew (formerly known as DIRT, DIRT Crew, the Academic Year Program) The context of change: deepening, rich, living material; the medium of growth. Dirt Crew takes place during the school year with youth who have completed Seed Crew and provides meaningful opportunities to develop leadership in sustainable agriculture practices, local food systems, diversity/ anti-oppression work, and civic engagement.
Root Crew (formerly known as Interns or the Intern Program) The action of change: reaching out, investment in place; the anchor of growth. Root Crew is yearlong and provides youth who have completed Seed or Dirt Crew with increasingly responsible roles in our urban and suburban farms and markets, and opportunities to lead community dialogue around food system change and social justice.
As the youth representative for The Food Project, Julia presented a workshop at the conference, and participated in a rally in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Julia describes the experience in her own words below. “This experience was life changing for me. The conference was based around food justice and issues with our food system globally. This opportunity to work with other programs from across the country and brainstorm global ideas is something everyone should be able to have a chance to experience. I knew that there were a lot of other organizations that worked in food justice similar to The Food Project, but seeing them first-hand and talking to the youth and adults in the programs was really motivating to me as a person and as a member of the Food Project. It felt like having so many like-minded voices coming together could really make a change. It showed me that the work The Food Project does locally could grow into a movement when groups join in thought and ideas. This gave me insight into how things can be changed globally, if we all stand together. I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to explore a broader view on food justice from a wide range of people and see what it looks like for a group of motivated youth and adults to come together to share their ideas and knowledge.” Julia plans to continue her work in food justice and agriculture beyond The Food Project by studying both in college and says The Food Project played a big role in her decision. g
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