Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Education and Training: youth education
- Sustainable Communities: community services
Proposal abstract:
Under the supervision of trained volunteers, youth ages 8 to 15, consumers at a residential treatment center in Ames, Iowa, will participate in planning, constructing, planting, and maintaining a sustainable food system that provides food for their use with the long-range goal of expansion to grow fresh produce for a local food pantry. The non-formal education provided in this structured environment will teach at risk youth that food comes from plants they nurture from seed to harvest and will give them a sense of responsibility. Participation in a food production system will be a powerful experience because these children often don't feel empowered in other areas of their lives. The sustainable gardening project will use a nationally recognized environmental education curriculum along with the construction of a 3-bin composting unit, a series of raised bed gardens with walkways and fence. Volunteers from several local organizations will be involved. Located near a church and in a residential area, the garden will demonstrate how a traditional lawn can become a sustainable food production system that provides a safe and nutritious food supply while sustaining the land. This project will be documented as a model for similar institutions serving youth.