Youth Agriculture Project – Farm Fresh Food is for Everyone

SWL allows teens to sample different types of work and identify their own skills and strengths in leadership, customer service, agricultural labor, education, and outreach. Youth who participate in producing food with the Youth Agriculture Project build their life and job skills, become more employable, and begin to see themselves as citizens who have a place of “belonging” in the community.

In a “waterfall effect,” previous program staff have gone on to replicate elements of the program at other community-based educational farms in the region and around the country. The overall result is more educated young professionals, producers, and consumers aware of their role in a sustainable food system. Some SWL alumni have gone on to study agriculture in college, work on production farms and to explore agricultural policy as a field.

Students who visit farms see their snack growing; they pick it, prepare it, and know where it comes from and who grew it – and they are more likely to encourage their parents to provide snacks like edamame and fresh carrots. Participation increases their connection to soil, seeds, and food as a system. When community members of all ages encounter their food directly and learn how to prepare it, consumption of fresh vegetables becomes the norm, resulting in improved nutrition for consumers and greater profit for farmers.

Support for local organic sustainable farming has myriad benefits for the local economy and environment, increasing food security as well as the fabric of community. Increasing support in the community for small local farmers strengthens the local economy, increases the community’s self-reliance, protects the natural landscape of Vermont and the character of the region, reduces negative environmental impacts, and brings people into contact with the sources of their food. All eaters are part of a sustainable local food system.