Youth Farm

By Christina Nicholson

One of the conversations you hear at the Wedge is the one that starts like this: "Mommy/Daddy/Grandma/Auntie, where does this come from?" shouted by small child waving a piece of produce in the air. Often, there are no easy answers. Even as we bemoan our culture's disconnect from our food system, it can be difficult to create an opportunity to show kids just where their food comes from and to appreciate all the work entailed in getting veggies from field to store.

Fortunately, here in the Twin Cities, Youth Farm and Market Project helps young people to understand the process of, and develop an appreciation for, growing their own food. As Rina Rossi, Youth Farm's Lyndale Program Director puts it, "the kids become more sophisticated about food, more open minded, and more aware of organics and what healthy eating means."

Started in 1995, Youth Farm has helped hundreds of kids ranging in age from 9 to 18 years old to reconnect with the food they eat through gardening. In addition to an eight week summer program, there is also a Youth Farm Spring Break, where kids tour grocery stores in different neighborhoods, as a way to develop a deeper understanding of why fresh fruits and vegetables are nutritionally valuable, and also how access to them is in part determined by geography. There is a Farm Camp, where children visit a local farm in Osceola, Wisconsin, and learn about larger scale agriculture. There are also some cooking classes for kids in the fall.

For the summer program, there are three different neighborhoods that each support a Youth Farm Garden, the Lyndale Garden, the Powderhorn Garden, and the West St. Paul Garden. The kids who are a part of the summer Youth Farm are grouped into one of two age categories, 9-13 and the LEAD group, ages 14-18. For the younger of the two groups, Youth Farm offers the opportunity to learn about different kinds of foods, where they come from, and how to grow them. For the older group, Youth Farm offers the opportunity to create curriculum with adult supervision, mentor young people, and learn about grassroots organizing, in each of the neighborhoods that Youth Farm serves.

For all the kids involved, in addition to learning about food, Rina also notices change on a deeper level.

"I feel like their ideas of identity are formed by interacting with kids who are different than they are."

In the three gardens, the participants have the opportunity to plant, maintain, and harvest a large range of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, greens, carrots, potatoes, melons, and raspberries. Then they sell their harvest to the public at various farmers market in the metro area. The money the kids raise is pooled, and the kids (with some input from the various directors) decide what to do with the money to improve the organization. According to Gunnar Liden, Executive Director of Youth Farm, there is no limit to the ideas that the kids come up with.

"Last year, some of the kids really wanted to use the money to put spinners on the [Youth Farm Community] van. We voted on it, but they lost by a couple of votes."

As recipients of one of the 2006 Wedgeshare grants, Gunnar aptly sums up the connection between Youth Farm and the communities and kids they serve, "All of us, the Board, the staff, the kids, we all live in these neighborhoods, these are our neighbors. The gardens are all part of our self identity. We rely on these neighborhoods to exist, and they rely on us too."

For more information on Youth Farm, how to volunteer or how to get your kids involved, visit the Youth Farm website.