Photos: Deborah Jones, JJ Tiziou, uncredited, uncredited, uncredited, uncredited

They are farmers, chefs, organizers, students, and songwriters. They work on the reservation, on an island, on the south side of Chicago. What they have in common is that they are under 30, they’re innovative, and they are changing the world through food.

The ten featured here represent the cutting edge of a growing movement. All around the planet, young people are building sustainable food systems—for the sake of our communities, culture, land, and health. We know that food is the “universal key” that helps to unlock a better world. And we know we are as powerful as we choose to be.

So we’re kicking off this publication by highlighting some of the people that most inspire us. These ten exemplify what it means to act locally and think globally. They show us the variety of ways we can all contribute. They illustrate the diversity that drives our movement. Most importantly, they are not alone….

Wil Bullock
25, Boston, MA (BLAST Cadre class of ‘05)

Wil is commtted to youth development, because he knows first hand the power it can have to change the lives of young people. Wil has worked for The Food Project for ten years, and in that time has grown into the man he is today.

When you hear Wil speak, not only will he tell you about the power that youth development has had in his life, he most likely will sing a song that expresses his deep concerns about the impact the food system has on his community, the Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston.

Wil’s music, a classic mixture of gospel and R&B, reaches out to young people on their own terms. It talks down to no one, and preaches nothing. Instead it brings a heartfelt and soulful message of truth and warning about the state of our food system.

Rasha Abdulhadi
25, Chicago IL (member of the BLAST Cadre)

While in college at The University of Chicago, Rasha was trying to find the best place to apply her efforts to make change. In that process she found that “working with food and production of food is simultaneously a really simple way to enter in to conversation and reaches deeply into everything from international trade, to transportation, to energy use.”

Rasha’s work with the CSA Learning Center at Angelic Organics is an excellent example of the ways that people are finding to reinvent agriculture and farming in urban contexts. The core of Rasha’s work is a group of new immigrant farmers in the Chicago area, and two community gardens, one each on the North and South sides of Chicago, are .

Roberto Nutlouis
26, Flagstaff, NM (BLAST Cadre class of ‘05)

Indigenous people in the United States have a long tradition of working, living, and eating close to the land. Many of these people in recent times have moved away from these traditions, toward a reliance on supermarkets and commodities. Roberto saw the impact this was having on his community in New Mexico, and sought to make a change.

He lead the creation of a ten week summer program called “Cultivating the Seeds of Change”. This program hired Hopi and Dineh youth from the communities of Pinon and Kykotsmovi for ten weeks of the summer. These youth spent the summer “cultivating heirloom varieties of vegetables and fruits, learning traditional stories and knowledge which comes with planting and caring for crops … and learning about the social justice issues surrounding food security.” Roberto knew that in order to make the most significant impact, he needed to empower young people to make changes themselves.

Student Farmworker Alliance
Imokalee, FL

Direct action produces results. The Student/Farmworker Alliance is an example of how young people, through organization and demonstration, can make change. In partnership with the Coalition of Imokalee Workers, SFA organized a successful nationwide campaign of demonstration and action, centered around “Boot[ing] the Bell”. The campaign was directed at Taco Bell, with the goal of raising tomato pickers’ wages by raising the price Taco Bell paid for tomatoes by one penny per pound.

After 22 separate campuses ended contracts with Taco Bell, and in the face of being “Booted” from many more, in March of 2005 Yum! Brands, owner of Taco bell, conceded to the CIW’s demands. Now SFA and CIW have set their sights on the rest of the fast-food industry, starting with McDonald’s!

Not only does the work of SFA remind us that students have the power to demand change, it reminds us of the wide reach of the food system.

Matt Fendry
23, Lanesboro MN

Matt started farming at age 13 with an acre of vegetables that he took to the farmers market. He’s been growing from there. At 19 he started a flock of free range laying hens, whose eggs he sold directly to neighbors and local markets. At 21 he entered into the FarmBeginnings program, where he learned about rotational grazing, and qualified for a loan from the Heifer Foundation. The loan allowed him to start his own herd of 15 cattle on his parents’ 145 acres.

His land is now certified organic, with a milking parlor and other buildings that he’s put up himself. He’s working on expanding that original 15 head to 40. He’s the youngest farmer in the Organic Valley Co-op, and is the representative for the 40 farmers in Southern Minnesota.

People’s Grocery
14-20 West Oakland, CA

If there were no grocery stores in your neighborhood, you might also be inspired to take action. With the guidance of the organizations founders, Brahm Ahmadi, Malaika Edwards, and Leander Sellars, the youth of the People’s Grocery have changed their neighborhood in two significant ways.

The first is their mobile market. A van which travels around West Oakland, bringing fresh fruits and vegetables, and healthy groceries. This market is many residents’ only option outside of corner stores.

Many of the fresh vegetables on at the “mobile market” come from their urban gardens. Their city farms are part of the growing revolution to reclaim vacant urban spaces in the name of agriculture.

Makala Forster
12, Orcas Island, WA

It’s not a huge leap to live in a community with many farms, and imagine that those farms might supply a nearby school cafeteria, and yet sometimes it takes someone to make that connection. In her community in Washington, Makala Forster starting making that connection three years ago.

It took until last year to craft a plan to get more local food in her school. Her presentation to the school board was persuasive enough that this past school year they had organic local greens in their salad bar. Makala’s success took her to the Farm to Cafeteria conference at Kenyon College, where she spoke about her efforts, and will soon take her to the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development.

And no, her age is not a typo.

Tim Galarneau
26, Santa Cruz, CA

Bringing local food to the University of California campuses is more than a way to support local farmers. For Tim it’s an opportunity to “garner food-citizens”. He’s been working to change the UC’s food procurement policies for the last several years, starting when he was an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz.

As an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz he helped organize a successful campaign to kick Sodexho off campus, which resulted in UCSC starting their own campus food service. He identified collaborative stakeholders, and laid out sustainable purchasing guidelines which became part of the contract and bidding process. He’s now working on an initiative that stretches across the whole UC system, working to build a procurement policy which seeks local sustainable sources.

Through his efforts, Tim has raised a lot of awareness and coordinated effort across campuses. Students are teaching their own courses on food systems, and incorporating it into the education process. Students are going to farms to harvest and work. He’s working towards turning food into a learning experience and getting students’ hands in the soil.

Denise Finney
29, Raleigh, NC

A volunteer trip to Nicaragua showed Denise the importance of the agriculture, and the role she could play in it with her scientific training. She was inspired to go to the University of North Carolina, where she did her masters’ research at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems.

Denise’s research has been published several times already (a big deal in the academic circles), but that’s not the most exciting part of her work. Denise is committed to training the next generation of farmers and consumers, in the U.S. and internationally. And she’s planning to do this in a unique way, through the ministry.

Corey Lee
28, Yountville, CA

When Corey Lee says that “anyone can get involved in the restaurant business, regardless of their background or education” he knows what he’s talking about. He started out washing dishes and is now the Chef de Cuisine at The French Laundry (many say the best French restaurant outside of France), and a nominee for the James Beard House’s Top Young Chefs award. Basically he’s a superstar.

While most of us will have to be content with paying rent rather than eating at his restaurant (their nine course menu will set you back $210 a person), places like the French Laundry set an important standard. They have their own certified organic farm and many “back door” suppliers, farmers from the Napa Valley who drive their produce a short distance to the restaurant. And more than that, Corey and the folks at The French Laundry help make food taste better. Not just through cooking, but through tasting food grown by folks in their neighborhood and giving feedback.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 19th, 2006 at 6:39 pm and is filed under Change, Feature. Both comments and pings are currently closed.