Final report for EDS23-050
Project Information
Although career pathway exploration is embedded in high school curriculum, opportunities for hands-on, real world connections to careers in Agriculture are minimal for young people living in urban and suburban communities. Furthermore, the student body in schools served by Gwinnett County Public Schools is majority minority, with 19.4% White, 32.3% Black, 11.2% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander, 32.7% Hispanic/Latino, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. These statics reflect a high number of young urban people fitting a demographic historically under-represented in Agriculture careers.
To address these shortfalls, Gardens for Growing Community (G4GC) proposes a series of educational work-study experiences that provide young adults ages 17 – 21 and interested in Agriculture, a variety of opportunities to gain meaningful exposure to urban Ag systems, and related careers. Participants may choose to work with urban farmers, learning to grow food that is then donated to local food banks. Additionally, they may select the chance to explore a broader scope of Ag-based careers by spending time with experts in a diversity of Ag-based professions. Whether they choose one or both of these experiences, young adults participating in these programs will gain hands-on experience on a working urban farm, strengthen valuable workforce skills, and begin or add to their professional resume. In addition, they will have a better understanding of the academic pathways best suited for their interests. Outreach will target and encourage young adults from under-resourced and/or under-represented communities, increasing their awareness of collegiate and technical school opportunities, related scholarships and internships,and entrepreneurial options that support meaningful and productive careers.
A small-scale pilot of this concept was successfully implemented in 2022 in 2 cohorts conducted on one urban farm, engaging a total of 8 interns, 7 of whom were African American or Hispanic females. They were responsible for assisting the farmer in general, also constructing raised beds, preparing and amending soil, and managing the seeding, planting and maintenance of their allocated program space. Over 150 pounds of fresh food were donated to a local food pantry; in addition, the youth participated as vendors at a farmers market, managing the marketing and sales of their produce. Five of the 7 interns were rising college freshmen and reported their experience significantly increased their interest in pursuing Ag- and conservation-based careers. All interns reported a 100% increased awareness of sustainable agriculture practices, and reported new awareness of the connections between community health and fresh, locally grown food. They also reported a sense of pride that their work had meaning and value, with increased confidence in their own ability to grow food using sustainable practices. One intern returned to assist the farmer outside of organized programming - another now plans to attend a land grant college to study Agriculture. By building upon this success and expanding programming to engage more young people in additional work/study experiences, G4GC envisions a broader outreach and deeper dive into the opportunities and value of Ag-based livelihoods for young urban adults.
-
Conduct 4 (10week)cohorts on urban farms (each cohort @ 6-hour/sessions)
-
Engage 4 participants per farming cohort
-
Engage 16 participants per Ag-education cohort (2 cohorts)
-
Engage 1 young adult per year to continue harvest and delivery of seasonal produce
-
Engage participants and mentors who reflect participant demographics
-
Engage least 2 urban farmers as mentors to share their expertise and host work in an educational context on their urban farm sites.
-
Engage at least 6 Ag experts to host site visits for Ag Education program.
-
Harvest and distribute at least 250 lbs of fresh food a year to local food banks.
-
Report 100% of participants confirm an increased confidence in their ability to grow their own food and to pursue a career in sustainable Agriculture.
Cooperators
- - Producer
- - Producer
- - Producer
Education
This funding supported Ag-based experiential learning for urban teens - they got their hands dirty and worked hard, rain or shine! During each cohort, participants were engaged on farms using natural growing practices, located in the heart of unincorporated DeKalb and Gwinnett counties (metro Atlanta region). Under the guidance of 3 experienced urban producers on 2 farms, participants performed routine crop preparation, maintenance and harvesting duties, followed by opportunities to sell their produce at local farmers markets and to distribute to local food co-ops. In addition, visiting producers demonstrated a variety of farming practices and entrepreneurial approaches that included livestock production, pollinator conservation and native plant landscaping, natural and chemical pest management options, soil health and soil restoration strategies, composting and more. The educational approach was hands-on, with clear deliverables and a focus on facilitating authentic learning, not lecture.
This immersive approach was supplemented with regular sessions of reflection that helped young people make healthy and positive connections between the farm experience and their daily lives, making the farming experience even more meaningful and enriching on many levels.
Several of the participants voluntarily returned to assist the farmers in subsequent workshops and on regular workdays.
Educational & Outreach Activities
We also took youth to the University of Georgia (UGA) Veterinary School, where a professor specializing in bee genetics talked about his work as a beekeeper and the genetics research he is doing with honeybees. Students visited the UGA beehives and learned about the challenges honey bees are facing asa result of human impacts, and how vital they are to US Agriculture.
Participation Summary:
Spring Feed DeKalb Internship Waiver of Liability and Photo Release (7) (1) - Kenadie SmithJakel Brown - General Liability & Photo Release
Lilian Hernandez - General Liability & Photo Release
The above are signed photo releases for the 3 students who are included in this report's video clips.
Farmers who were engaged to facilitate this learning successfully engaged higher than anticipated numbers of high school students in the immersive, hands-on learning proposed for this grant. In addition to sharing their expertise through the practices of preparing soil and other environmental conditions to maximize crop yields, the farmers engaged other Ag-related practitioners to share their expertise in the areas of pollinator conservation, forest restoration, soil conditioning and composting, floriculture, native plant cultivation, plants propagation, small-scale livestock management and farmers market management and marketing. The programs Programs successfully targeted young urban and suburban adults ages 17 – 21 interested in urban farming and careers in Agriculture. All participants came from Title 1 schools in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties, and approximately 50% of them were African American, 15% Latino, with 1 Asian student (the remaining percent were Caucasian, with several claiming to be part of the local LGBTQ community.) We were aiming for participation to be around 10 students per cohort - numbers varied from 10 - 14 per cohort with a drop out rate of less than 1%.
This program was promoted via G4GC newsletters and through newsletters produced by Unearthing Farm & Market. In addition, a video showcasing the program is in production (due at end of the Summer, 2025) and includes participant testimonials. This video will be used by G4GC for fundraising to support programs in 2026 and beyond.
FROM BEFORE (apologies if I was supposed to delete this? Instuctions are unclear)
Programs effectively targeted young urban and suburban adults ages 17 – 21 interested in urban farming and careers in Agriculture. The opportunity to participate was wholly inclusive with an emphasis on promoting to populations historically under-represented in Agricultural careers. The Programs Director for G4GC leverage her strong existing relationships with key administrators and teachers at local public schools and technical colleges to reach rising 11th and 12th graders attending Title 1 schools, i.e. Gwinnett County Public Schools with the majority of student populations qualifying for the school's free-and-reduced meals program.
In addition, local technical colleges with agriculture-based programming opportunities will be contacted to assist with promotion to students. Promotional materials will contain photos and videos from the pilot program in which females and people of color are participating in the activities proposed for this grant. The videos were specifically produced by an 18-year-old African American female with the intent of encouraging others who reflect her demographic to attend the programming.
These programs will address a need for programming like this that ha already been asked for by these key education stakeholders, so the interest and formatting of programming g int his proposal has been developed with professional input as well as the Director's experiential expertise.
Outreach will be conducted mostly digitally; however, teachers will be asked to schedule G4GC's Hispanic female Projects Assistant to present in-person to high school Ag classes, where she will promote the program with a Power Point, and also provide digital access to the G4GC website and online registration.
The G4GC Executive Director has developed a network of minority urban farmers through her contracted time with the USDA Natural Resources & Conservation Service (NRCS) and with continued NRCS and local SARE support, plans to contact minority urban farmers and additional Ag professionals to secure their support as program mentors and site hosts. This intentional inclusion of diverse racial and cultural profiles is meant to not only highlight the expertise of traditionally under-represented producers but also increase the self-confidence participants have in their won ability to engage in – and potentially succeed in – a field where people of color and women are not significantly represented.
By requiring participants to share their experience by completing a journal, video or other communication format, G4GC envisions peer-to-peer content that may be used by Ag teachers to empower future young adults interested in Agriculture, as well as to help promote future programming.
Learning Outcomes
Youth who participated in these workshops had little-to-no experience in urban agriculture prior to this experience. Across all programming, only 2 dropped out. In all other cases, farmers observed a significant increase in their awareness of and a greater appreciation for the amount of work and knowledge that it takes to produce fresh food (which 100% of participants admitted they had previously taken for granted.) In all cases, farmers noticed a huge increase in participants' self confidence on the farm, from their initial shyness and total lack of knowledge of what needed to be done or how to do it, to a confident engagement in the chores and ongoing problem-solving. There was also an exciting increase in the participants' enthusiasm when selling at the farmers market - as knowledge regarding how their food was grown and ways it could be prepared increased, so did their excitement at sharing their knowledge with market customers (their enthusiasm was a GREAT marketing tool!)
About 60% of the participants expressed an interest in returning to the farm as volunteers - approximately 10 have actively engaged with the farmers since these programs, and 2 have started gardens at their schools - 5 report increasing their production skills and yields in home gardens. Perhaps the most significant reflection of the teens' enthusiasm is how word got around - our first cohorts had 15 - 20 applicants - the summer of 2024 had 44 applicants, with many of the applicants noting they had heard about the opportunity from a friend.
Project Outcomes
I think the only way to assure anyone growing up in an urban environment is ever going to contribute to future sustainability, is to provide them with experiences like this. Will it turn them into farmers? Who knows?! I do know there was one participant who felt she was a social "misfit" and was struggling with the high school pressures of being told to make career choices and to go to college....after this experience, she reported finding "hat might be (her) true passion" and now works full time during the summer with a native landscaping firm, and part-time during the school year. She said she didnn't feel like a misfit on the farm, and now she's excited about exploring a career in environmental design. So al we can do is plant the seeds, and hope that the seeds, encouraged by the self-confident we nurture during these experiences will contribute to future sustainability. These video clips are from some raw footage that I took, which another intern (not part of this grant) is using to create a video about this urban ag program. It's being produced this summer and will help me secure ongoing funding and promote the program to more youth this Fall: IMG_0153 IMG_0142 IMG_0142 Video Clip 1 IMG_0157(2)