Youth Summit 2008: Food Justice
Check out the slideshow of our favorite pictures from the Youth Summit and read about it below!
Beginning with a Connecticut farm and branching out to the global community, Solar Youth explored the topic of Food Justice in their annual Youth Summit. For three intense days of Kids Explore!, Kids Do!, Kids Teach!, youth from Citycology and the city-wide Neighborhood Steward Teams gathered to address this important issue that crosses neighborhood and national boundaries. (Please see the following slideshows for pictures from each day!)
The first day, Kids Explore!, youth visited Woodbridge Farm in Salem, CT, to learn more about how local food is grown. Youth explored the farm’s barnyard full of cows, horses, and chickens, as well as discovered a nearby forest full of vernal pools and wild plants. After helping clear stones from an unplowed field, youth learned about how different vegetables are grown and then planted potatoes themselves!
The second day, Kids Do!, youth gathered at Edgewood Park for a fun, creative day where they began making placemats for family and friends to share what they have learned about food justice. Youth visited four different stations to learn about nutrition as well as how food production effects people, the environment, and uses a huge amount of energy. Afterwards, NST interns led the group in a hunger banquet to introduce youth to the issue of global hunger. The day culminated in the youth producing their own food – homemade ice cream in recycled coffee cans!
For the final day, Kids Teach!, youth met at the New Haven Green to experience how food is made from products around the world. With a list of ingredients, youth ran from “country” to “country” to gather their chicken, soybean oil, and other goods they needed to make some of their favorite foods. Afterwards, youth walked to the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale to finish their food justice placemats and present a Food Justice Celebration for local community members. After teaching what they had learned and re-enacting the hunger banquet, the 2008 Youth Summit concluded with group pictures and games on the New Haven Green.
