Youth Farm

Youth Farm successfully grows not only young leaders, but also food and community by engaging youth from Minneapolis and St. Paul in urban farming and community organizing. Youth as young as nine participate in programming and have the opportunity to stay involved until the age of 24, building new leadership skills every step of the way. Our programs are based on a unique progressive program model which places youth in four specific cohorts based on their age: Youth Farmers (age 9-11), All Stars (age 12-13), Project LEAD (age 14-18), and Farm Stewards (age 19-24). Each cohort works together and builds on the last, ensuring that youth are taking on age appropriate responsibilities that are challenging, engaging, and effective. No matter whether a young person is engaged with Youth Farm programming for one week or ten years, Youth will leave knowing that their voice was heard and that they have the power to be an effective leader in their community. In 2023, Youth Farm engaged over 300 Twin Cities youth and 500 community members in food, community, and leadership programming. Youth Farm's mission is simple - we farm to grow. We farm to grow food, community, and, most importantly, young leaders. Youth learn to plant, grow, cook, and responsibly distribute local produce while developing real world leadership skills along the way by using food as a catalyst for change within their communities.Through farm and food programming, Youth Farm strives to accomplish the following goals:1. To develop and nurture healthy relationships;2. To create neighborhood connectedness and opportunities for contribution;3. To contribute to the positive identity of children and youth;4. To promote healthy bodies and minds; and5. To build young leaders.Youth as young as nine participate in programming and have the opportunity to stay involved until the age of 24. Our programs are based on a unique progressive program model which places youth in four specific cohorts based on their age: Youth Farmers (age 9-11), All Stars (age 12-13), Project LEAD (age 14-18), and Farm Stewards (age 19-24). Each cohort works together and builds on the last, ensuring that youth are taking on age appropriate responsibilities that are challenging, engaging, and effective. No matter whether a young person is engaged with Youth Farm programming for one week or ten years, they will leave knowing that their voice was heard and that they have the power to be an effective leader in their community. In 2023, Youth Farm engaged over 300 Twin Cities youth and 500 community members in food, community, and leadership programming.Growing Leaders:Youth Farm's progressive program model has proven to be both effective and engaging, as youth have named that they feel appropriately challenged at each stage. Although the tasks in each cohort build upon the tasks from the last, youth who are involved during any step of the process will take away important food access and leadership skills. Youth Farmers (age 9-11): Youth Farmers work to master gardening and cooking skills while developing strong interpersonal skills. They also learn about how food choices impact their lives and communities and share this knowledge with their peers and families.All Stars (age 12-13): All Stars take on intentional, specific program and neighborhood leadership roles while focusing on cultural responsiveness skills and becoming role models foryounger youth. They also learn about food systems while taking part in the decision making process surrounding food distribution in each neighborhood. Project LEAD (age 14-18): Throughout the Project LEAD program, high school-aged youth take part in a school year internship followed by hourly summer employment. Project LEADparticipants manage programming for Youth Farmers and All Stars while also designing farms, seeding, planting, weeding, harvesting, and distributing thousands of pounds of fresh produce. Additionally, these young leaders engage their peers, families, and neighbors at community events, actively learning to use food as a tool for change. Through this stage of Youth Farm programming, participants develop mentorship, conflict resolution, leadership, community organizing, and career skills. Farm Stewards (age 19-24): The Farm Stewards employment program is the final stage of Youth Farm's progressive program model. Farm Stewards, who are often Project LEAD graduates, are young adults that Youth Farm supports to become social change leaders and community organizers within their neighborhoods. Throughout this program, Farm Stewards focus on a combination of increasing program opportunities in their neighborhoods with high level leadership, building workforce skills, and developing expertise within the context of food, social change, and professional youth development. Youth Farm designed the Farm Stewards program to emphasize a more personal and flexible approach to leadership development. We aim to include Farm Stewards at different stages of their personal, educational, and professional development, including those pursuing a long-term career in youth work, students who are earning higher education credit through their Farm Steward employment, and young adults exploring a specific area of Youth Farm's work infarming, community organizing, nonprofit management, etc.Growing Food:Through Youth Farm programming, youth grow food in three Twin Cities neighborhoods: North Minneapolis and the Frogtown and West Side neighborhoods of St. Paul. With the vision of building community, we manage and/or assist on 9 urban farm plots in partnership with a multitude of organizations including La Puerta Abierta United Methodist Church, Nellie Stone Johnson Community School, the City of Minneapolis and countless neighbors and communitymembers. Through our programs, we strive to involve youth during every step of the growing process. Project LEAD and Farm Stewards are tasked with evaluating the needs of their neighborhoods and then choosing crops to plant, creating farm plans, and designing programming that will allow for Youth Farmers and All Stars to have as much involvement throughout the growing season as possible. Once plans for the year are made, Youth Farmers and All Stars are tasked with seeding thousands of plant starts in our St. Paul greenhouse or in their classrooms in Minneapolis. Seeding begins as early as January and plant starts are nurtured throughout the winter. In 2023 our Farm Stewards, Project LEAD, and program staff worked to distribute over 8,000 plant starts to Youth Farm sites, community partners, and families! As the weather gets warmer, plant starts are distributed to garden spaces and are planted by youth during school programming, by Project LEAD after school, and by staff and volunteer work groups.When school lets out, Youth Farm programming shifts to focus on farm management. During the peak growing months of summer, youth manage garden spaces, ensuring to evaluate which crops are doing well, when they are ready to harvest, and who they should be distributed to. In 2023, this group of youth leaders managed to grow thousands of pounds of produce for the community. All of Youth Farm's distribution efforts are informed by youth and also aim to provide fresh, local produce to those with the least access. Our programs not only aim to teach youth technical growing skills, but also aim to teach them practical life skills through the entire seed to plate process. Through this process, youth not only learn, but employ a variety of skills including project planning, time management, people management, team work, problem solving, critical thinking, and evaluation. Youth Farm participants leave programming knowing that their voices are important and that if they can be leaders in a system as large as the food system, then they can be leaders anywhere.Growing Community:As young people advance through Youth Farm's progressive program model they are not only growing food, but also community. At Youth Farm, we believe that the young members of communities have the power to effectively spread knowledge, organize others around a common cause, and create waves of social change. By staying active in urban garden spaces, their schools, and their neighborhoods, youth are generating conversations and interestsurrounding food access as well as sharing gardening, cooking, and leadership skills with their peers, families, and neighbors. Annually, Youth Farm's in-school programs, growing season programs, and community events reach over 300 youth and 500 adults. As youth work to organize their communities around food, they also work with dozens ofpartners. To date, Youth Farm has nurtured over 150 community partnerships with organizations and businesses including Saint Paul and Minneapolis Public Schools, the Loppet Foundation, the Walker Art Center, La Puerta Abierta United Methodist Church, Frogtown Farms, West Side Community Organization.