The Food Project
Since 1991, The Food Project has built a national model of engaging young people in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. Each year, we work with over a hundred teens and thousands of volunteers to farm on 37 acres in eastern Massachusetts in the towns and cities of Beverly, Boston, Ipswich, Lincoln and Lynn. We consider our hallmark to be our focus on identifying and transforming a new generation of leaders by placing teens in unusually responsible roles, with deeply meaningful work.
Food from our farms is distributed through our Community Supported Agriculture programs, Farmers' Markets, and to hunger relief organizations. The young people working in our programs participate in all of these distribution streams, giving them valuable job experiences and a personal connection to our food system and issues of food justice.
In addition to producing and distributing food, we help others grow their own through our Community Programs, and provide training resources based on all we've learned since '91.
The Food Project is a founding sponsor of the Real Food Challenge, a campaign organizing students to increase the amount of real food at their schools.
Creating personal and social change through sustainable agriculture
Our Mission
The Food Project's mission is to create a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system. Our community produces healthy food for residents of the city and suburbs, provides youth leadership opportunities, and inspires and supports others to create change in their own communities.
Our Vision
We envision a world where youth are active leaders, diverse communities feel connected to the land and each other, and everyone has access to fresh, local, healthy, affordable food.
Our Values
We believe:
youth and adult partnerships are at the heart of our best work;
we are stewards of our land, culture and community – and, in turn, they sustain us;
our strength grows from diverse experiences, backgrounds, cultures and points of view;
true learning is reciprocal and requires transparency, humility and bold action;
in hard work that balances rigor, reflection and fun;
all people have a right to healthy, affordable food that nourishes our lives and the planet we share.
