Youth Farm Project 2014 Annual Report

Youth Farm Project Annual Report 2014

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Youth Farm Project2014 Annual Report




November 15, 2014

To Friends and Supporters of the Youth Farm Project:

Early winter finds us planting garlic, mulching, pulling in irrigation, and in general putting the farm to bed. The organizers meet weekly, reviewing the summer season, visioning for the future, working on securing funding, and distributing all the produce weve grown.

The produce our summer crews worked so hard to grow is now finding its way into the lunch program of the Ithaca City School District, as well as the New Roots Charter School, and restaurants in town. We regularly donate food to the Friendship Donation Network, helping to provide direct access to fresh, wholesome food to families with limited resources. In addition to having our produce at the Congo Square Market, and the Triphammer and Cornell markets, we have begun holding pop-up farmers markets at area schools.

Our weekly off-farm development sessions this summer included presentations on structural poverty in Tompkins County, the factors around childhood obesity, and volunteering at Loaves and Fishes. We increased our visits to other farms this season, providing valuable opportunities for learning and perspective. Chefs came to the farm to teach us to make raw vegetable snacks, in addition to our weekly cooking classes. The chefs and the teens love working together, and its wonderful to watch palettes expand, and concepts around nutrition start to feel real.

From service work, to entrepreneurship, to understanding the social structures of race and economy, working and learning positive communication skills with peers from other schools and backgrounds, to plain old organic farming, your support has made it possible for the Youth Farm Project to build on its mission: To empower local youth as integral participants in building equitable local food systems and healthy communities. We are blessed to spend the year with young people, all engaged in meaningful work and paradigm-shifting conversations.

As an experiential educational program for high school students, providing healthy produce to underserved families in our community, the Youth Farm Project is built on community support. Your contribution will help us to continue, and to grow!

In gratitude,

Farmer Ann, Farmer Joseph, Katie, Dan and the entire YFP crew

Vicky, a student at Lehman Alternative Learning School (LACS) has been working on the farm for the past two years, hoping to return this coming summer. Vicky loves YFP and believes that the work the teenagers do on the farm is not only rewarding, but educational in terms of food system and agricultural information. Below is an enlightening piece Vicky contributed to the YFP blog about one of her weeks spent working on the farm. Vicky makes it clear that the summer program provides her with the opportunity to expand her knowledge about social and food justice issues.

This is my second summer at the Youth Farm and my first year as a crew leader. The year seems to be flying by and were already three weeks in! People are becoming closer and building stronger bonds; its great. And there is so much smiling. Everyone has blessed me with hilarious conversations and so much laughter.

This week was a particularly great week at the farm; good weather (not too hot or cold), in-depth conversations and lots of laughing. Everyone on the farm did a lot of hard, fulfilling work this week and through it, we were smiling and getting very dirty. Just my crew alone seeded over twenty flats of basil, zucchini, and lettuce in one morning. Then as a whole group, we discussed the meaning of sustainable farming.

Wednesday was our weekly development session at LACS. We had two local leaders in the community. Kirby Edmonds and Jemila Sequira, come to speak to us. Kirby Edmonds, Dorothy Cotton Institute Fellow and Coordinator of Training for Change, led an informative discussion about structural poverty in Tompkins County. Kirby shared that the local employment/education/prison system gives children in poverty very few options for escaping poverty. Simply put, youth in poverty can end up with two options for employment: 2-3 minimum wage jobs or illegal activity such as selling drugs. Also, the public education system doesnt prepare youth to break out of this poverty cycle. This, on top of the fact that poverty can restrict access to capital to pursue higher education or to start a business. Kirby didnt stop his talk at the hard to break cycle of poverty, but showed that public education, workforce training, and other types of social justice organizations have so much untapped potential to help us all attain ownership in the way we provide for ourselves, family, and community through living wage jobs, access to capital. Next, Jemila, Whole Community Project coordinator, shared how she became a leader in the local food justice movement and shared projects from the community.

The chef for this week was Shimels Damtew, owner of Shimels Ethiopian Cuisine, a pop-up food stand, came and cooked some delicious beef tips, bean/carrot saut, and greens with us. I wish I knew how to describethis with more detail, but I do know that the food wasamazing!

Thursday and Friday, we planted potatoes for four hours. It was a lot of potato planting but my crew had a lot of help from other crews so we got three rows done and after that, we stood and marveled at how quickly and efficiently something can get done if you have ten kids all setting their minds to it.


Meet Vicky

Zo has been working with Youth Farm Project for the past two summers, beginning her journey with the program in 2013. Zo discovered YFP through Ithacas Youth Employment Services (YES). After applying for the summer position, she was hired as a crew member for her first summer, and then was provided with theopportunity to be a crew leader the following summer. As a crew leader,Zo was responsible for monitoring a group of three to five of YFPssummer workers. She ensured that everyone in her crew knew exactlywhat they were doing and how to complete a task safely. Additionally,she evaluated the effectiveness of her crew working together, fosteringthe safety and comfort Youth Farm Project encourages. Based on whatZo has said about the summer program, it is clear that YFP has left agreat impression on her. Zo claims that she loves the farm and believesYFPs mission and vision are great steps towards a sustainable future, afuture where everyone has access to healthy food. She explained thatYFP has positively influenced a great majority of the teens that haveworked there over the summer...this above most other things isimportant as it is the children of a community that make the differencethat the community needs.

Although Zo has fallen in love with Youth Farm Project and everything it strives for, she is unsure about her plans for this coming summer as she prepares forcollege after graduating from New Roots Charter School. She does not believe she will pursue a career in the agriculture field, but she knows that she will always have a love and respect for what the Youth Farm means and a greater appreciation for organic food. As she prepares for what the future holds, Zo cannot help but to hope for a forthcoming world with a greater number of programs in the community similar to YFP. As always, it will be sad to see another YFP member come and go, but we are proud of the person Zo has become and we look forward to hearing about her life after high school. ________________________________________________________________________________________

It is always great to hear from YFP alumni and what they are up to. Many youth who have been a part of our program go on to study subjects revolved around food justice and sustainable agriculture. Emily Belle is one such alum. Emily is currently majoring in Environmental Studies, with a concentration in Community Food Sovereignty, as well as majoring in Comparative American Studies at Oberlin College inOhio. She works as a tutor and mentor at a localafter-school program, and she spent this past summercompleting a Community-Engaged Research Fellowship aboutoptions for food justice education. Additionally, sheco-facilitated a Food Systems and Social Justicemini-course for college students in the fall. Emilywrites, the experiences that I gained through YFPhave been foundational for establishing my interest inall of these projects, and continue to inform my workand studies.

Food Justice for the Future



It is wonderful to see how food can foster connection not only between people, but also between people and the environment. I am so grateful to be a part of the Youth Farm community.

The work I have done here has changed the way I view myself and my place in the world.

I think it is extremely important to expand your community and develop symbiotic relationships with other members to build a stronger community.

I feel great about the physical aspect of work. It makes me feel motivated and strong. It is beautiful to utilize your body in producing the food that nourishes it.

It is a great job to improve confidence, do something with your community involving food, and work with the earth positively.

The act of cooking and sharing meals together brings the work we do full circle and brings a greater level of appreciation and community to the program.

The Food We Grow:who eats it & where does it go?

Vegetables provided to local schools from the Youth Farm include:

green beans, kale, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, garlic, broccoli, leeks, daikon radishes, cutting celery, hakurei turnips, collards, field greens, carrots, and more!

As part of our commitment to building a stronger, healthier, and more sustainable local food system, we have continued to strive to sell our produce consistently and affordably to local school lunch programs. In this way, the Ithaca City School District Child Nutrition Program has served as one of the primary avenues through which we aim to provide children of underrepresented groups with the nutritious food needed for a healthy life.

This year, over one TON of the Youth Farms produce was served in Ithaca City Schools over twice as much (and over 1,000 pounds more) than in 2012! We sell this produce at a price the district can afford, which is a mere one-half to one-third of the typical organic wholesale price.; Youth reached with this food include all of the children served by the Ithaca City School Districts Child Nutrition Program, Ithaca High School, New Roots, and LACS.

Additionally, YFP provides the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School with 70 percent of their produce this fall. Through this program, 250 children ate healthy snacks each day, made with fresh fruits and vegetables which many of them would have never tried otherwise. Other avenues through which we sell and donate produce in efforts to improve community food security is to the Market Boxes Program, providing low cost CSA-type shares to low income families, Loaves and Fishes, the Ithaca Health Alliance, the Friendship Donations Network, the Congo Square Market/Southside Community Center. In 2013, YFP donated an estimated $2,000-worth of produce to these organizations and to local families as well as volunteers and the Youth Farmers themselves.

YFP in the CommunityWe are thrilled to say that over the summer we received a visit from D.W. Nutt, a writer from the Ithaca Journal. We are thankful for the opportunity Ithaca Journal gave us to share what our program is about with the community. Here are just a few quotes from the article from our Assistant Farmer Joseph Amsili:

Some kids come with a lot of gardening experience from home, but for a lot of kids its completely new to them. So we teach kids how to learn to work hard and use their bodies. We show them they can be powerful and create something pretty meaningful.

One big part of our program is that we depend on having five or six kids returning from previous years that can be role models and leaders for the people who have just arrived on the farm.

To read the entire article and find out what some of the youth had to say about their experience working for YFP, visit the Ithaca Journal website at http://www.ithacajournal.com or our blog page at http://www.youthfarmproject.org/blog.

Youth Farm Project is dedicated to providing youth with valuable, life-changing experiences. This would not be possible without help from and exposure to the local community.

Sharing ChefsAs part of Youth Farm Projects year-round program, we invite local chefs to share their healthy cooking expertise with us in the Lehman Alternative Community School kitchen. Here is what Emma Frisch from Frisch Kitchen had to say about working with YFP members:

One of my favorite parts of cooking with the kids at YFP was their varied experience in the kitchen. I was sharing my own recipes with them but, they were also helping each other learn each step: how to chop an onion, how to tear herbs with your fingers to preserve the flavor.

Farm Fame




YFP in the Community

The various farmers markets are occasions for youth farmers to experience the entrepreneurial side of the farm. Not only are the youth responsible for harvesting for the various farmers markets that we are part of, they are encouraged to work the stand. Farmers markets allow the youth to meet other farmers and individuals who are just as passionate about sustaining a healthy community and talking about social justice issues. Besides, what is more powerful than having teenagers show and talk about their accomplishments? Having adults see teenagers empowered by selling our value-added products such as raspberry jalapeno jam, salsa verde, as well as offering organic vegetables, is a beautiful thing. Lastly, the youth get to see their physical hard work pay offliterally.

Over the past few years, we have been working hard to sell our value-added products for retail in local markets and restaurants. We were fortunate enough to be approved to sell our very own raspberry currant jalapeo jam. We are happy to say that many of the youth in our program have helped in the production of this delicious jam.




Fun at Farmers Markets__________________________________________


Join our Jam SessionsVolunteering at Loaves and Fishes has become a tradition for the Youth Farm Project. Due to our success as farmers, we are not only able to sell to local restaurants but also donate food to various food pantries, and organizations like Loaves and Fishes. While working alongside their dedicated staff, and other volunteers, the youth famers can make powerful connections not only to our produce but to our community as well. While growing food has all different kinds of positive learning aspects, what to do with all the food we grow is as equally as important. Learning to cook, prepare, and help serve food, to people the youth farmers have never met creates a bond. Besides, what is a better way to get to know someone than to share a meal with them?

Sending Love to Loaves and Fishes

Financial Summary

As the years go by, we continue to see an abundance of financial support. Youth Farm Project is dedicated to ensuring the money received is allocated properly as to make positive impacts on the youth and community. We greatly appreciate all individual donations to YFP.

Donations As an experiential educational program for high school students, providing healthy produce to local disenfranchised members of our community, the Youth Farm Project is built on community support. While we purposefully include an entrepreneurial component in our program, our work simply would not be possible without the financial support of many generous individuals, foundations, and businesses. Here, we would like to name and extend our greatest thanks to those who have contributed gifts in support of our mission. Although this publication cannot fit the names of each individual supporter, each contribution of any size truly makes a difference in our program and in our community.

Laurie Deflaun & John GradyLouis Derry & Alexandra MooreLynn Rathbun Marc KeaneMareike KuypersMarisa KellyMark DarlingMary Alyce & Jonathan ComstockMatt YarrowMichael OrestesMiranda Phillips & Robert KleinbergMitchell Bobrow & Kathleen RogersNaeem Inayatullah & Sorayya KhanNaham WarhaftPatrick Slaney Paul PiombinoPhyllis & William JoyceRichard FurnasSamuel Koplinka-LoehrSaoirse McClorySara Schaffzin & Tommy BlecherSarah GrigorovSeth ZenzSharif YounesShelley SemmelerSteven KellermanSusan ComptonSusan MerkelSusan R. TarrowTammo SteenhuisTim & Christi SaltonstallTimothy DeVoogdVolker VogtWendy WolfeWill & Beth Saltonstall

Vol. 1 Issue 1

Month Day Year

Month Day Year

Vol. 1 Issue 1

David LehmanDavid SchwartzDavid WarhaftDonna Fleming & Rick KaufmanE SaltonstallElise Skalwold & James EdwardsGerald Friedman Grace Gooding Jaqueline ThompsonJane Marie LawJeffrey GilmoreJohn ClausJohn SuterJoseph NolanJoseph Yayitt & Susan MerkelJudith PaskinKarl MadeoKarla VargasKate MaddenKatherine AndersonKeith HarringtonKavin CarruthersKristen Landi

Individual Donors $1,000 or more:Anonymous Dylan Lippencott

Individual Donors $100-$999:AnonymousAlexandra MooreAmy GarbincusAndrew YaleBarbara MingleBenjamin FurnasBill BassettBob NapeBruce ThompsonCarla Golden & Diane CarruthersCarol ChernikoffCarolyn Belle Carrie Koplinka-LoehrCarrie StearnsCathy ByrdCelia ClementCherie WendelkenChristopher LoweDavid Hessler

Ethiopian CuisineEmma Frish, Frish KitchenDamon Brangman and Jackie Richardson, Fruits and Roots JuiceSilas Conroy, Crooked Carrot

Foundations, Businesses, and Other Institutional Donors $100-$999:Alternatives Federal Credit UnionComey-Fitzgerald Family FoundationThe Kathy Yoleson Fierce Determination FundHome Green Home Inc.PinaxRobert G. and Jane V. Engel Foundation, Inc.Taitem EngineeringFirst Unitarian Society of Ithaca

Gardens for HumanityGIACGroundswell CenterIthaca BakeryIthaca City School DistrictIthaca CollegeIthaca Waldorf SchoolLehman Alternative Community SchoolLoaves and FishesNew Roots Charter SchoolPark FoundationPaul Stearns, CPARegional AccessSouthside Community CenterSujata Gibson, Attorney at LawThe Sustainability CenterTCATTreleaven WineryThe PiggeryTompkins County Workforce NYTown of Danby Youth EmploymentTown of Ithaca Employment ServicesWest Hill GraphicsYouth Employment Services of Tompkins County (YES)South Hill CiderPeter Moore, Stones and More


FarmsKestrel Perch FarmRocky Acres FarmOeschner FarmsThe Full Plate Farm CollectiveThe Good Life FarmMain Street Farms

Foundations, Businesses, and Other Institutional Donors $1,000 or more:AnonymousIthaca Bakery

ChefsRachel Ostlund, Iron Owl KitchenFrank Purazzi, Northsat Public HouseAndre Jaquet, AgavaShimels Damtew, Shimels

Community PartnersWe would be unsuccessful in achieving our goals if it were not for the support of in-kind donations in the form of professional, legal, fundraised, and non-profit assistance. We thank and appreciate those who make our work possible.Art Circus IthacaCommunity FoundationCongo Square MarketCornell Cooperative Ext.Crooked Carrot CSKFresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program (FFVSP)Friendship Donation Network


Looking Ahead: Plans for 2015

As we begin the new year and say good bye to 2014, we cannot forget the memories from the past year that show how Youth Farm Project continues to provide both youth and the greater community with worthwhile experiences and services.

In hopes of achieving our goals and our mission, our objective for 2015 is to expand our produce sales to bigger farmers markets and local restaurants. We intend to sell more of our value-added products for retail, with an emphasis on how the development process of these products allows youth to not only learn about how to produce healthy and tasty food, but in the meantime learn about themselves. Additionally, we hope to increase the number of youth participating in the year-round program, such that an opportunity for participation in planning, organizing, and leading arises.

We will continue to improve upon the diversity of the organization, from the food we grow to the youth and staff we hire. In order to see a new generation of successful farmers and members of the food system, we will continue to teach team building and leadership skills as well as teach about food and social justice issues. To expand upon our reach throughout the community, we will continue to build relationships through internship opportunities for regional colleges and universities. Each of these improvements will allow Youth Farm Project to strengthen its year-round program in order to further our commitment to provide youth with educational and valuable experiences.

On the Move: Future Mobile Market

Beginning a new year always holds a sense of transition, in our personal lives and in the work that each of us pours into the Youth Farm. This year in particular I am feeling both fear and excitement for this upcoming change and movement forward, an upheaval that I have never experienced before. It is my senior year of high school, and as I lean into this time of decision making and planning for my future, the years I have spent at the Youth Farm are holding me up, much like the way we lovingly wrap our tomato plants with twine, gently reminding them to keep growing upwards. I couldnt be more excited, as I plan a gap year of traveling with some of my favorite people on this planet, and make a decision about where I will attend college. My future is filled with some amazing opportunities, and not surprisingly many of them are inspired by my work at the Youth Farm Project. But this excitement is also incredibly bitter sweet, as I begin to think about moving forward, ultimately parting ways with family, friends and this beautiful farm, at least for a little while.Winter on the farm seems to mirror this same transition, as all of us at the farm reflect on the past year and look towards the future. The past five years at the Youth Farm Project have been full of excitement, energy and positive movement forward. Now in this time of beautiful quiet and peace on the farm, we gather with a sense of potential and purpose, to envision how we can continue our supported evolution, expansion and growth upwards.It is with joy that I can share with you plans for the construction of our very own mobile farmers market! The designing and building of this project will be the way in which I demonstrate my readiness to graduate from the Lehman Alternative Community School, where I have attended school since 6th grade. The farm has inspired me to think deeply about my place in the world, what space I want to fill and how my passions and aspirations intersect. This planet is a complex place on which to grow, and I am constantly realizing the ways in which my interest in agriculture, sustainability and social justice connect. It feels fitting to me to embark on this project, which may seem simple at first glance, but actually represents something complex, that contains layers of growth for myself and for the farm.Right now I am in the beginning stages of designing a mobile market stand that will be built using a flatbed trailer, which can be hitched to a car or truck. As the Youth Farm gets older, we have begun to think more about marketing strategies, by creating value added products, and attending various farmers markets. Having a mobile market stand will allow us to travel more freely around the community, and give youth working at the farm more opportunity to gain experience interacting with consumers. In addition, it will offer us the potential to address needs in our community, by reaching areas that have less access to affordable, local, organic produce. Food justice is a concept that was introduced to me during my first summer of work at the Youth Farm. To me the concept represents a complex intersection of issues, which leads to unequal opportunity in the ability to afford healthy food. Because it is a complex issue, solutions are also complex, and I feel clear that simply bringing food into a community that needs it is not a sufficient solution. That is a solution that ignores complexity, and takes us away from the root cause of such injustice. Having this mobile market may allow the Youth Farm to

Youth Farm to eventually expand our work towards food justice, through conversation, and connection with community leaders. Creating change takes time, which is why we continue to reflect and move forward.This mobile market will be under construction this summer by a team of young women, led by Maria Klemperer-Johnson at Hammerstone Carpentry School for Women. The goal of working with Hammerstone is to empower myself and other young women, a demographic that is not often found in carpentry or construction. In the mean time, I am busy creating designs, writing grants, and planning fundraisers. I am filled with gratitude and hope. Times of transition are challenging for us all, but it is my wish that by reading this you will feel the same energy and excitement that I feel. Stay tuned, things are moving in wildly positive directions. Crew Leader Rayna Joyce


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Youth Farm Project 2014 Annual Report