In 2005, the Growing Youth Project began as a youth-guided community food assessment. According to its website, the project has blossomed into an incredible outreach program for kids to combat hunger in low-income areas.
For ten months, the teens have been studying food problems within the Alameda Point Collaborative. As the largest supportive low-income housing community in the East Bay, it is positioned at the site of the former Naval housing areas in Alameda.
The teens from the Growing Youth Project were hired to assess the affordability and access to food for those residents at the Alameda Point, and see how these aspects influenced their diet.
The results were dire; most residents did not have access to the grocery store due to a lack of transportation and could not afford to buy healthy food.
In 2008, the Alameda Point Collaborative took an old basketball court and built a one-acre farm in its place.
All teens hired to work at the Growing Youth Program are members of the Alameda Point Collaborative. They work on the farm, and learn about on the growth and maintenance of farming while gaining self-confidence through their employment. These teens have become a voice to what happens in their community, and have ultimately become leaders in ending the suffering that comes with hunger.
“Before, I didn’t care where my food came from as long as it kept my stomach full, but now I care about fruits and vegetables and how they are treated,” said Tionne Johnson.
The Growing Youth Project is now in full force, with the farm providing Community-Supported Agriculture bags filled with fruits, vegetables, honey and eggs. Residents only pay $5 for $30 worth of food.
They also hold a farmer’s market every Friday from June 2–Oct. 1 at the Ploughshares Nursery next to the urban farm.
Regular cooking and nutrition classes are held weekly for kids, teens, and adults. These cooking classes are possible through a network grant from the USDA and the Community Food Security Coalition.
Camry Manney explains, “I learned about multiple areas of cooking, food, growing vegetables, also I learned a lot about how to be part of the community. Because before I wasn’t a people person, now I’m walking up to people’s doors bringing them bags of food.”
Volunteers are always needed contact Kate Casale (510) 898-7828.