OUR PROGRAMS

FoodWhat programs are held on our half-acre organic farm at the UCSC Farm & Garden and on our partner farm site in Watsonville, Discovery at Live Earth Farm. Youth from all over Santa Cruz County join the FW crew through our core programs: Spring Internship, Summer Job, Fall Project, and Junior Staff programs.

The Spring Internship

Our Spring Internship often serves as a foundation-building period for approximately 90 FW youth. Each day in the Spring, youth engage in organic farming, culinary arts, healthy food access, and skill-building workshops. They begin the process of internalizing the curative impact of participating in their food system and connecting to nourishing food by having their hands directly in rich soil and engaging in experiential learning in the kitchen. Youth build their identity as agents of change by stewarding their local food system. Youth contribute to health equity by developing relationships with healthy food they struggle to access in a culturally relevant way. Youth deepen their working knowledge through workshops that focus on cultural connections to food, food as medicine, community leadership, anti-racism, social justice issues, mental health, and nutrition. 

THE SUMMER JOB

In our Summer Job, FW youth engage our most extensive program as youth are on the farm four days a week harvesting, cooking and eating nourishing food while launching equitable community food access projects. This program utilizes meaningful work with peers as a vehicle to learn, grow, and heal. As a part of their work, youth harvest produce boxes to take home to their families each week. They run our affordable farm stand that brings healthy food into our local school system, Pajaro Valley Unified School District, at their Wellness Center. They maintain school gardens, predominantly located in the Watsonville area. They engage in more advanced workshops that are designed to advance their knowledge about nutrition, food justice, healing, relationships, communication, and job readiness.

THE FALL PROJECT

During our Fall Project, approximately 15 FW youth put the foundational skills of Spring and deep training of Summer to the test. After months of learning, FW youth are ready to step into equity-building roles that cement their new narrative of capability and worth. In these leadership roles, youth operate our two farm sites, manage their weekly produce boxes, run our affordable farm stand, lead school garden maintenance projects, and manage FoodWhat flower and pie businesses. FW Youth Event Planners put on a large-scale health education event called the “Harvest Festival” on our farm site that connects approximately 250 local students with their food system and other local nonprofit services focused on community wellness.

Junior Staff

Junior Staff is a second-year program that represents the next level of leadership opportunities through FW. After successfully completing one year of FoodWhat, 5 youth will join FW staff and apply for this second-year position to lead the next generation of the FW Crew. This program is one way FW remains representative and relevant to the youth we serve. Junior Staff is trained in Spring, co-leading in the Summer, and often continues to the Fall in a supportive role.