The momentum of Food Works has taken everyone involved by surprise; each year the farm has been more financially successful than the last. While much of the money Food Works makes goes back into the program and covers their salaries, part is used to sponsor an annual harvest party for their community. Last year, they also decided to purchase school supplies for neighborhood kids with leftover funds.
In addition, throughout the course of the year, they set aside hundreds of pounds of produce for weekly “Food Pass Out” days for the low-income residents and families at St. Johns Woods and New Columbia. Giving back in this way is an important part of the Food Works experience. Students who have been in the program say that the community element motivates them.
Food Works has more than one leg up over most entry-level summer jobs. Couchman points out that the program teaches a wide range of skills, from communication, leadership, group decision making, and business management, to marketing, cashiering, and food handling. The program supports crew members in their transition to other jobs, as well as to post-secondary education. Five Food Works’ graduates, all immigrants from East Africa, have received college scholarships through Janus. Food Works graduates have won awards for their community activism, traveled around the nation to present at conferences, and seen their grades improve dramatically—one young man raising his GPA from 1.5 to 3.5 during his employment.
Now a few weeks into fall, there is no more salad mix, but there are collards, peppers, squash, and potatoes left to harvest, and a few more 6 a.m. market days to attend. Although “back to school” means that the Food Works farmers are trading in their pitchforks for pencils, they will continue having weekly meetings to evaluate this year and plan for the next. The future of the program is in the hands of the students, as it has been from the start.
[Find Food Works’ products at the Portland Farmers Market on September 27 and October 25, and year-round at the New Seasons Market Arbor Lodge store.]
[Thanks to Edible Portland's partnership with the local film company Cooking Up A Story, you can watch the story of Food Works and the teens involved come to life at edibleONLINE.]
Peggy Acott, Community Outreach Director for Portland Nursery, has spent the last ten years supporting schools and youth-related organizations in their garden and farming projects. She proudly claims her status as a native Portlander and fifth-generation Oregonian.
December 15th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
[...] “Teen Works: How one group of city kids helped transform a community garden project into a thriving b…” (Edible Portland, Fall 2008) describes the evolution of the Food Works farm, a teen-run business located on Sauvie Island. Our featured video this season tells the story of this project and introduces you to the kids who work the soil and sell the bounty. [...]