North Shore Teens Run Urban + Suburban Farms, CSA Shares, Farmers’ Markets
Many communities in eastern Massachusetts lack access to both youth employment opportunities and fresh fruits and vegetables. Anne Hayes, Executive Director of The Food Project, envisions a world where young people are active leaders, diverse communities feel connected to the land and to each other and everyone has access to healthy, locally grown, affordable food.
The Food Project grows food, grows leaders, and grows change through a nationally recognized youth development model that is grounded in food justice and farming.
In partnership with 140 youth annually, the nonprofit grows approximately 200,000 lbs. of fresh fruits and vegetables on 60 acres of urban and suburban farmland in eastern Massachusetts.
More than 50 percent of this produce is distributed to individuals struggling with food insecurity through low-cost farmers’ markets and donations. Teens from diverse backgrounds are involved every step of the way to build a healthier, more equitable local food system.
Earth Day is April 22 and soon after seasonal farmers’ markets and CSA shares will open. Consider speaking with Hayes and joining her onsite at one of The Food Project’s six urban and suburban farms in Lynn, Lincoln, Wenham, and Boston’s Dudley neighborhood. She can tell you more about the nonprofit’s work to employ youth, transform community food access and how in a world full of inequities growing your own fresh produce has the power to unite us all.
“We believe change is made at the local level and our best work is done when there are different perspectives at the table,” says Hayes, who often gives tours of the facilities. “For many young people, working at The Food Project is their first employment experience. We provide them with the education, resources and tools needed to actively listen to residents who have been directly impacted by injustice in the food system in order to create and implement solutions they run independently that directly impact their communities.”
The Food Project connects and trains youth to build raised-bed gardens, lead volunteers on farms, cultivate crops in greenhouses, and run CSA distribution and farmers’ markets. Together, they distribute thousands of pounds of fresh produce, which is cultivated using natural growing methods without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Since its founding in 1991, The Food Project has employed more than 2,000 young people. A recent survey found that 72 percent of the nonprofit’s alumni are leading social change through their careers and community participation. To continue harnessing their passion and talents, the organization is working to expand its college and fellowship offerings.
“The youth we employ hail from different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds and yet they are all connected by the need to access food, a basic human right,” says Hayes. “Agriculture and farm work level the playing field so to speak. Nothing gets done and nobody eats unless you work together. Without collective action, we cannot create change. And, change is needed in our local food systems to ensure everyone has enough healthy, fresh and affordable food to eat.”
Hayes joined The Food Project in 2019. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer at Trinity Boston Connects and worked as a marketing consultant, during which she completed two pro-bono projects for the nonprofit. She holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Outside of work, the Bedford resident can be found harvesting and cooking her own food from her home garden.