Teenagers have a harder time finding work than any other age group, but an unusual coalition in Memphis, Tenn., is trying something new to bring their teens into the work world.
A pilot program of the Farm to Fork Fellowship of Shelby Farms Park employs 25 students who grow food to sell to the school system. The Peer Power Foundation, affiliated with East High School, recruits, interviews, and hires the teens.
The first thing the students do is build a bike to commute to the job. They build their bikes at Revolutions, a volunteer-based bike shop that refurbishes and recycles donated bikes.
“All the kids live pretty close to Shelby Farms Greenline, which connects the park to the inner-city area,” said Matt Farr to The Epoch Times. Farr is the manager of Education and Outreach at Shelby Farms Park Conservancy.
Shelby Farms Park is one of the largest urban parks in the country with 4,500 acres, which is about five times the size of Central Park.
It was once a penal farm, a place for punishment. Now it’s a force for civic improvement. “It’s important to emphasize what Shelby Farms Conservancy is trying to do,” said Farr.
Memphis is one of the poorest, fattest, and most crime-ridden cities in America, according to Farr. It has one of the highest infant mortality rates and one of the worst foreclosure rates.
Unemployment among teens is about three times that of adults nationally, the Department of Labor reported. With a teen jobless rate of 27.4 percent, Tennessee was among the 20 states with the worst unemployment rates for 16 to 19-year-olds, according to the Washington-based Employment Policies Institute.
“We really view the park as a thing that can chip away at those problems,” said Farr.
This summer’s heat waves made conditions tough for the urban farmers, yet “they’re doing fine—kids, young folks, they adapt quickly,” said Farr.
He praised the students for being focused on their goals. “These young folks have their eyes on the prize.”
Institutional partnerships and individual donations make the whole project possible, he said.
“You can’t do this by yourself,” said student Dominique Lemons on Family Plot, a local public television program. “Dealing with a garden has to become a team effort. This is a big thing that’s going on.”
Their first funding, for raised beds and a greenhouse, came from neighboring hospital Baptist Memorial Health Care. A local radio station raised money for and helped install an irrigation system, according to Farr.
Farr said he is constantly in fundraising mode and constantly looking for a sustainable model. “Programs like this help people re-imagine how public space can be used to its utmost,” said Farr.
On the business side, Farr hopes the program can become as self-sustaining as possible. In the first season, they sold what they grew at markets, but this second year they have a guaranteed customer–the Memphis School system. The schools just hired a “rock star,” chef Tony Geraci, to run its food program, and he committed to buying what Shelby Farms grows. Geraci is nationally known for bringing fresh local food into schools.
“The educational side of the job is broadly based. It’s not just about horticulture—it’s about community, nutrition, logistics, entrepreneurial skills, and transportation,” said Farr. He sets up math problems for the students to calculate what yield of crops per acre will allow a profit, for example.
The land is productive. “In my office right now I’m looking at a big pile of potatoes, eggplants, peppers (poblano, bell, cayenne, banana), basil, sweet mint, citrus mint, rosemary, oregano, radishes, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, collard greens, and pumpkins,” said Farr.
“It was really fascinating to me when we kicked off spring break with a little immersion program,” said Farr. “We were talking about companion planting, how it works like a community works. Just like squash, and beans, and corn, different people come together to make the community stronger ... a symbiotic relationship. The kids get it.”
The students grow healthy food, exercise, earn money, and return to their neighborhoods with new knowledge about food and business.
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