The project is the expansion of a six week leadership program held in the summer of 2021 in collaboration with a number of stakeholders including the Boston Public Schools, The City of Boston, City Year, the Private Industry Council (PIC), Fowler Clark Epstein Farm, Ethnica, Korean BBQ and Bar Restaurant, New England Grassroots Environment Fund, and Suffolk University. The Curriculum includes: Educate on racial and economic disparities as roots of food insecurity; weekly field trips to explore regional food disparities via supermarkets; Gardening (community, backyard, and scrap); and Cooking (healthy snacks, vegetable dishes, desserts). The program culminates with an end of program presentation to stakeholders.
SUMMER 2022
Volunteers and Participants
Stefan Schmidt
Stefan served as the project coordinator for the CEEDS4Change summer youth empowerment program. He is a Suffolk University student and has worked in education and behavioral health for several years. He enjoys making art, playing chess, and making music. His first time growing vegetables was while helping out in his parents’ garden as a kid.
Activities
BLOG POST
During week two of the program, students created multiple blog post. One example of the blog post that was made was about how people can grow their own fruits or vegetable without a garden.
AFROCENTRIC COOKBOOK
Students edited many of the different recipes throughout the book and added more recipes from different regions that have African roots.
K-5 CURRICULUM
Students created lesson plans that could be used by teachers for students in grade K-5. The lesson plans connected to the book “Soup Joumou” and was designed to teach the kids about empathy, citizenship, initiative, collaboration, and responsibility.
FOOD JUSTICE BILL
Students created a bill centered around providing students of Boston with nutritious meals year round.
Comments and Feedback
During their time working as a paid summer intern with CEEDS4Change, the students demonstrated the kind of creativity, intelligence, teamwork, and respect we seek in our young participants. – Stefan
I was excited to start the program because it was my first job. I really didn’t know what to expect or what I would be doing. I really enjoyed the projects that we did. It wasn’t boring and we were able to creative with our work. It was interesting learning about food justice and food insecurity because I had never heard of it before. I am really glad that my first job went well and that I learned something new through it. – Samarrah
I was skeptical at first because this was my first job. It was different from what I was expecting, thought we were just going to plant stuff. A great program to start off if it’s your first time working. It will look great in your resume. I gained a lot of knowledge throughout the program about gardening and food apartheid that will be cruel in making more changes to our food system. The only problem I have with the program is with the trips; wish there was more trips. – Richie