Young Folks Urban Farmers

We are young people who want to change the way our communities feed themselves. We are an action network.

Mission:

To truly explore the definition and possibility of sustainability in our modern times. Specifically, we seek to accomplish the goal of food sustainability for a community. In this case we are dealing with a charter school in a low-income, mostly Hispanic neighborhood that has recently lost funding for what was once an innovative school lunch program. While the loss of the program is a tragedy, it is also an opportunity. It is a chance to learn how to implement freestanding food systems, not dependent on what has proved to be in adequate, and ultimately unsustainable method of feeding not only our school, but hundreds of thousands across the country.

Goals:

1. To provide healthy, fresh, local food to the students of the high school.
Given the regulations on procurement and contractual obligations handed down by LAUSD, we are encouraged to find alternative modes of serving healthy produce to the students, as well as, find the best ways to utilize existing policies and programs to our advantage.

2. To develop a farm with corresponding programming to achieve a sustainable model for our food system.
What makes this project special, is that it is coupled with not just a small learning garden, but a full scale, four acre farm in the hills of Lincoln Heights (on campus), overlooking all of Los Angeles. It is the perfect counterpoint to what is starting to happen in the cafeteria and in the classroom. Students will have the benefit of seeing food go from seed all the way to table on one site. This part of the project requires the most attention currently, as we are in the developing and building stages.

3. To involve students in learning about where their food comes from, and how they have the power to change their surroundings.
We want to develop in the students, a sense of ownership over their land and their food system. In as many ways as possible we want to involve students. Every student will have had some interactions with the farm by the time they graduate from L.A.L.A. 

Los Angeles Leadership Academy Urban Farm Project is our first location. We are amassing support in the form of funding, volunteers, donations, and from the charter school's vibrant youth. Cultivating community around a space using farming. Holler at us if you want to help.