The Veg Table

The Food Project is a youth leadership non profit organization whose goal is to affect change in the food system through youth leadership training and sustainable agriculture. In the Summer Youth Program (SYP), as a crew leader, I facilitate exercises in youth development, field work on the farm and workshops. The field work offers all participants the opportunity to perform real, meaningful work where products directly feed the communities in which the farms are located. The workshops also work to reinforce the leadership aims of the Food Project, to offer youth a wider skill set to effect change in our broken food system. We at the Food Project, for youth as for food, seek to change the food system from seed to fork.

The person growth i have experienced as a crew leader has ushered me in a direction of greater leadership in my self-discipline as well as my goal setting. I am developing within my personal relationships the capacity for honest and nonviolent communication as the curriculum imparts on all its students. Further, I am learning more strategies to manage the aspects of my personality that obstruct my growth. For example, in conversations I am extremely long winded and dominate the exchange of information; that I am working for the growth of youth, active listening has become my “go to” as a leadership tool. This tool means the youth are heard by a compassionate audience.  That crew leaders sincerely care about the personal development of youth allow the youth to build faith in their leadership team and in the work they do with the project.

By and large, the Food Project is a solid force, and, I hope, an enduring one in my life.

Raynald Carre
Crew Leader
The Food Project

http://thefoodproject.org/