Back to December 2023 Newsletter
Youth in Food Systems - A Year in Review
An (Official) Year of YFS!
Why? We recognize that most young people are unaware of the opportunities that exist in agriculture and food, at a time when we need people innovating and transforming our food systems more than ever. We also recognize that young people are in need of belonging, of being part of something that brings them together in positive action.
So, how did things look this year?
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In 2023, we had more than 125 new high school students join us, contributing over 1200 recorded community service hours. These youth came from more than 12 regions across Ontario, as well as in QC, NS, and BC.
Let’s take a moment to highlight each of our primary youth-driven projects:
Youth Food Market
Our dozen youth Market Leaders led the planning and execution of 8 pop-up markets held in 2 Kitchener ON neighbourhoods during July-September. 20% of market produce was grown by youth at 10 school gardens through Waterloo Region’s Nurture program, while 80% of produce was sourced from 4 local farms. Market Leaders served over 150 families in the community. Approximately 590lbs of produce was sold and an additional 195lbs of produce was donated.
Food Leader Interview Series
Our youth volunteers have been hard at work developing and practicing their interview skills, connecting with interviewees, building interview questions, and setting up and conducting interviews with Food Leaders across Canada. The third season of our food leader interview series, “What do you Bring to the Table,” highlights a variety of food systems careers:
Sustainable Food Project Coordinator
Global Regenerative Agriculture Specialist
Farm Operations Manager
Chef/Food Company Owner & Advisor
Food Waste Diversion Coordinator
Agriculture Lab Coordinator
Green Industries Educator
Butcher
A big thank-you to Gabrielle, a dedicated long-term Interview Series volunteers, who shared her first-hand experience during the training sessions.
Content Creation
The Blog is made up of 2-3 youth-led posts each and every week showcasing topics on food systems and sustainability. Our youth volunteers lead the entire process: writing, editing, publishing, and graphic design! The blog now has over 300 youth-written posts. This year we introduced the role of Blog Managers; big thanks to Jiya and Morgan for ensuring the Blog is energized and well-run!
Our Social Media Content Creation is made up of posts that are researched, written, and designed by our youth team of content creators. Youth have created over 75 posts in the last 2.5 years and our Instagram account has been taken over by youth 25 times!
As we’ve slowly but surely continued to grow our reach and impact, we’ve begun to notice something interesting: Many of the youth who sign up to join do so because someone they know recommended our program. This, to us, is the best case scenario!
We want our youth opportunities to be perceived positively, enough so that youth are telling their peers to join YFS. The fact that this is happening tells us that we’re facilitating activities that youth want to participate in; that we’re supporting youth in the ways they want to be supported.
But don’t take our word for it - hear it from our youth!
“In the education I've been given, you don't actually learn too much about food systems in the depth that I've had the opportunity to experience in interviews. I'm really grateful for that as well because now I can think more complexly about subjects of food systems and also career paths in food systems as well.”
“I never really had an interest in plants before, but after the program, I think that I can find new ways to be interested in plants and see if there's some sort of career that might be related to plants. Also, I learned about business. I think it's made me more interested in that and I could combine that with the new plant knowledge.”
“The program definitely gives you a chance to look at a wide range of potential jobs or careers. There are so many careers in the food system industry that aren't really well known because the systems are so big and there are so many jobs that are needed to sustain it. The program gives you a chance to experience and learn about lots of them.”
“I've really learned the importance of communicating effectively within a group and how that helps boost group morale as well as effective and productive work. I will definitely be implementing this skill in any future jobs I may have. And another practical skill that I think I've practiced a lot and it's pretty new to me is graphic designing. I’ve gained a lot of creativity and innovation.”
“Even though I learned about climate change or how food systems are impacted at school, I feel like it was very surface level, but with my posts, I was able to learn so much more. I feel like my lifestyle definitely changed. For example, I learned a lot about taking care of the environment and being mindful of the waste that we're producing while buying food."
Thanks to our funders, partners, and youth participants for another fun- and food-filled year - we can't wait to see what 2024 brings for Youth in Food Systems!
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