Youth Service Corps: Addressing Food Access through Sustainable Food Systems Study ' Community Service Projects

Project Overview

YENC16-103
Project Type: Youth Educator
Funds awarded in 2016: $2,000.00
Projected End Date: 01/15/2018
Grant Recipient: Allen Neighborhood Center
Region: North Central
State: Michigan
Project Manager:
Josh Wald-Kerr
Allen Neighborhood Center

Commodities

  • Fruits: apples, berries (other), peaches, plums, berries (strawberries), melons
  • Vegetables: asparagus, eggplant, peppers, cucurbits, tomatoes
  • Additional Plants: herbs
  • Animals: bees

Practices

  • Crop Production: organic fertilizers
  • Education and Training: demonstration, workshop, youth education
  • Farm Business Management: value added
  • Pest Management: integrated pest management
  • Production Systems: permaculture
  • Sustainable Communities: leadership development, local and regional food systems, urban agriculture, community services, social capital, community development

    Proposal abstract:

    Project Abstract

    Youth Service Corps (YSC), a job and life-skills training program for youth ages 11-17, administers food access projects on the Eastside of Lansing, Michigan. In order to continue educating the youth about sustainable agriculture, YSC will spend the spring and summer on both ends of the spectrum of sustainability: first, through touring farms that are both commercially successful and sustainable and then through their Edible Park, Park Cart, Fruit Tree, and Garden-in-a-Box projects they will study and practice the skills that make farms sustainable: crop planning, integrated pest management, sustainable maintenance practices and business planning.

    Detailed Project Plan and Timeline

    Youth Service Corps (YSC), a job and life skills training program for youth ages 11-17, engages in service- learning projects focusing on food access in the northeast quadrant of Michigan’s capital city. Our current projects include: 1) Garden-in-a-Box, whereby youth construct and deliver 2’x2’ garden box kits to the homes of neighbors who have limited income and gardening skill; 2) Fruit Tree Project, in which youth map, harvest, and re-distribute fruit from neighborhood fruit trees in effort to minimize food waste; 3) Edible Park, where youth plan, plant, and maintain fruiting trees, bushes, and perennial herbs in a designated space in Hunter Park where edibles are available, free for the taking; and 4) Park Cart, a concession cart selling healthy, affordable snacks to farmers market patrons.

    We plan to build on the successes of each of these projects, allowing for an even greater impact on the health and viability of our community, while shifting the presentation of these projects to a lens of sustainable food systems.

    The goals for the upcoming year will be to continue the existing Edible Park, Fruit Tree Project, Garden-in-a-Box and Park Cart projects, while guiding YSC members to focus, consider and understand what the makings of sustainable food systems are. In order to observe sustainable agriculture in practice, the youth will go on field trips and see the workings of three Lansing area farms: Urbandale Farm, Lansing Roots Incubator Farm, and the MSU Student Organic Farm. In their visits, the youth will observe how farms could be both ecologically & financially sustainable. The youth will be asked to reflect often on their visits and work through guided journaling, using the recommendations of the Michigan Good Food Charter (good food is healthy, green, fair, and affordable) to analyze what they’ve observed.

    YSC members will continue to expand Edible Park areas to increase offerings of free produce to people living in this low income, food insecure neighborhood. Specifically, youth will expand the edible area of the Park to include a space with more intensive crop production, grown with the intention of developing value-added food products. These healthy, low-cost value-added food products will be created by youth in the Allen Market Place (AMP) licensed incubator kitchen, and sold at their Park Cart stand at the Allen Street Farmers Market.

    During YSC program sessions, held in the AMP kitchen and Hunter Park GardenHouse each Monday & Wednesday afternoon during the school year, and Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the summer months, we will hold sessions on each component of these dynamic projects. The Youth Programs Coordinator will plan and facilitate age-appropriate sessions for YSC members, developing their skills in planting, maintaining, harvesting, and utilizing fruits, vegetables, and herbs to create value-added food products. We will host special guests for sessions focusing on sustainable agricultural practices, business, and marketing. Adam Ingrao from MSU’s Entomology Department will teach organic pest and disease control.

    Timeline:

    May 2016

    • Conduct a pre-survey to gauge YSC members’ skills in crop planning, integrated pest management, sustainable maintenance practices, food safety, and business planning, and marketing.

    • YSC members will learn identification of plants and crop planning.

    • Select recipes utilizing fruits, vegetables, and herbs from Edible Park to be sold at Park Cart.

    • Create & distribute outreach materials to inform neighbors of their food-based projects.

    June 2016

    • Host session with Adam Ingrao of MSU’s Entomology Dept. to learn integrated pest management strategies.

    • Expand knowledge on food safety practices as they utilize the AMP kitchen to incorporate Edible Park crops into Park Cart food products.

    • Sell food products at their Park Cart stand at the Allen Street Farmers Market.

    July 2016

    • Utilize the AMP kitchen to incorporate Edible Park crops into Park Cart food products.                                                      

    • Sell food products at their Park Cart stand at the Allen Street Farmers Market.

    • Distribute outreach materials.

    • Field trip to a local farm.

    August/ September 2016

    • Utilize the AMP kitchen to incorporate Edible Park crops into Park Cart food products.

    • Sell food products at their Park Cart stand at the Allen Street Farmers Market.

    • Field trip to a local farm.

    October 2016

    • Guide the youth in making an art project or presentation reflecting on what they’ve observed in the farms and how these practices are sustainable and adhering to the Michigan Good Food Charter.

    • Conduct a post-survey to gauge YSC members’ skills in crop planning, integrated pest management, sustainable maintenance practices, food safety, business planning, and marketing.

    Resources Used

    The generosity of the community around the Youth Service Corps is allowing us to have a lot of resources and support in this project. The people and organizations we will be working with include:

    • Adam Ingrao from Michigan State University’s Entomology Department will educate about integrated pest management and sustainable maintenance practices.

    • Hunter Park GardenHouse Director, Rita O’Brien, and Gardening Educator AmeriCorps, Alex Bissell, will be additional on-site resources for horticultural, food safety, and entrepreneurial skill development.

    • Allen Market Place licensed incubator kitchen will be utilized for Youth Service Corps to create value-added food products from the crops grown in Edible Park to be sold at Park Cart in the Allen Street Farmers Market

    • The three Lansing area farms that will give us a tour and teach us about their sustainable production methods: MSU Student Organic Farm, Lansing Roots Incubator Farm, and Urbandale Farm.

    We will create lessons from the following books & publications: The Growing Classroom, Botany on the Plate, Principles of Horticulture by C.R. Adams, and The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman, and Michigan Good Food Charter publications.

    Outreach

    We will share information about Youth Service Corps’ food projects through Allen Neighborhood Center’s quarterly newsletter (distributed to 3,500 Eastside homes) and weekly e-newsletter (distribution of 2,400 and growing). Our Facebook page, “Hunter Park GardenHouse Youth Service Corps”, and Allen Neighborhood Center website will reach a wider audience on the web through postings and photo updates. During the summer months, the Park Cart will create a venue to discuss these projects with neighbors who purchase the value-added food products made with fruits, vegetables, and herbs from Edible Park. Another in person opportunity for outreach will be during our monthly Edible Park Collection Days, where the youth will lead neighbors through the garden, sharing what is available to be harvested and what to do with it.

    YSC members have presented at Lansing’s annual Everybody Eats Conference on current food access projects, Garden-in-a-Box, Edible Park, Fruit Tree Project, and Park Cart. The conference pulls many food justice proponents from across the state of Michigan. We will present in the spring of 2016 & 2017, educating conference-goers on what we have learned through the expansion of each of these projects. As members of the Youth Gardening Coalition, we meet quarterly with other local youth educators, and will share learnings about the projects in our meetings. In addition to these outreach methods, we will contact Lansing City Pulse and Lansing State Journal newspapers to request an article on YSC food projects and their impact on the community. In addition to print media, we will participate in radio programs on these topics.

    At the end of the summer, youth will create an art piece to showcase what they learned about sustainable food systems. It will be shared in whatever means is best – it depends on what media the youth want to create in.

    Student and Community Impact

    The positive impacts of these projects are vast: 1) Edible Park expansion will allow us to grow more food for our community and increase awareness of the health benefits of fruit, vegetables and herbs; 2) The food security of our neighbors can be increased both through Youth Service Corps’ many projects: the presence of Edible Park, the Fruit Tree Project and the installation of the 20 Garden-in-a-Box kits; 3) Youth Service Corps members will gain valuable skills in horticulture, entrepreneurism, leadership and teamwork; and 4) youth will have a more developed understanding of food systems and showcase what sustainable agriculture is and how it impacts their community.

    We will track and measure everything, including 1) number of sessions, 2) duplicated and unduplicated numbers of youth involved, 3) numbers of interns and volunteers helping to facilitate the projects, 4) numbers of farmers and other experts the youth learn from, 5) number of neighbors we interact with through the Garden-in-a-Boxes and Collection Days at Edible Park, 6) how much produce is grown in Edible Park 7) number of Garden-in-a-Box kits distributed, 8) how much fruit is harvested & redistributed through our Fruit Tree Project, and 9) descriptions of daily session activities. To measure changes in knowledge we will utilize pre and post surveys and journals.

    Success will be measured by the following:
    • 60% of our Youth Service Corps participants will report increased knowledge in all of the following categories: crop planning, integrated pest management, sustainable maintenance practices, food safety, business planning, and marketing.
    • Between Fruit Tree Project and Edible Park, Youth Service Corps will harvest 80 pounds of produce.
    • We will engage 30 neighbors through our Garden-in-a-Boxes and Collection Days.

    Project objectives from proposal:

    1. Engage Youth Service Corps members in community service projects to increase access to sustainably-grown food in the Lansing area and study sustainable food systems through observation at farms and in consideration of their food-access projects.
    2. Encourage Youth Service Corps members to consider and understand what the makings of sustainable food systems are through urban farming projects and farm visits.
    3. Increase the health and viability of the community through planting, harvesting and marketing of local produce.
    4. Extend impact of program to a wider audience through newsletter, Facebook, conference presentations, and newspaper articles.
    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.