Sunday, September 8, 2013

Young Mommy Farmers


What if all women were taught how to farm and create sustainable and nutritional foods for themselves and their families.  What if the community supported these efforts and provided land and resources to do so?

Well....

I just saw the documentary, Grown In Detroit which "focuses on the urban gardening efforts managed by a public school of 300, mainly African-American, pregnant and parenting teenagers".  In the film, "The young mothers, often still children themselves, learn to become knowledgeable about the importance of nutritional foods, the process by which these foods arrive at their plates, and ultimately, to become independent and self-empowered through the process of farming. Many of them start out disliking the often physically hard work on the farm, but this aversion disappears as they see the fruits of their labor growing and being sold for profit." (Grown In Detroit). 

This is happening at the Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women in Detroit.  The school was nearly shut down a couple years ago, but it's opening under a new charter this fall.  I wish there were more places like this in other states.  It would be particularly useful in my home state of California.

Do any of you know of other similar schools or organizations?  Do any of you grow any food at your home or support a local farm?


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