Grow Hartford is a youth program that advocates against social injustices such as food injustice, racism, and adultism. Our mission is to not only bring awareness to these issues but to also motivate citizens to bring change.
Growing the leadership of youth to build a just food system in our community and beyond.
Expressed through the decision-making of youth, based on the democratic-system we created within Grow Hartford Youth Program
Expressed by people within the community pushing for a change, rather than people from outside the community
Expressed through equal opportunity for all, no matter their socioeconomic status
Expressed by providing food access to everyone in a community no matter their socioeconomic status or cultural background
Expressed through emphasis on getting people together to make a change and stand for a common purpose
Youth meet after school for 5 – 7 hours a week to learn about the intricacies of food access and food justice in the Hartford community. Youth participate in public speaking workshops, political education trainings, leadership skills building trainings – such as facilitation, critical systems analysis, self advocacy and community engagement practices – team building exercises and relationship building, as well as community organizing campaign building. Grow Hartford aligns itself with social movements including the People’s Climate March and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Youth are hired to work on our urban farm, where they learn about urban agriculture, explore Hartford’s food system, and participate in field trips. During this time, youth are engaged in conversations that explore food justice issues, in particular ways to fight the oppressive systemic structures in our food system.
E-mail: growhartfordyouth@gmail.com
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Grow Hartford Youth Program and Connecticut Food Justice Youth Corps
Hartford Food System was founded in 1978. Since then, we have been dedicated to finding long-term solutions for access to affordable and healthy food in our home city of Hartford.