Stories from the ground: Dig Crew 2013
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The Dig Crew in downtown San Jose after their trip to the San Pedro farmers’ market.
The Dig Crew, Veggielution’s summer high school program, is only three weeks away from ending! The end of this year’s Dig Crew is a bittersweet thought. Although I will be so proud of each one of them for putting in their all and completing the program, the farm and my life will not be the same without them! During the Dig Crew, youth are challenged to take a good hard look into where food actually comes from in the United States. Youth work out on the farm in the morning, getting hands-on experience with sustainable agriculture practices in hopes for a deeper understanding of how much work goes into the food they consume. During the afternoon, workshops are provided covering a wide range of topics relating to the food system, from farmworker’s rights to cooking and nutrition. Activities and projects are sprinkled into the program to facilitate team building and hands-on experience putting the agriculture concepts learned into practice.
In my opinion, one of the best parts of the Dig Crew is the field trips. As a group we attend a Youth Summit at the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. Youth from programs just like the Dig Crew gather together, break bread, and attend several workshops regarding sustainable agriculture and our food system. We also take public transportation to the downtown San Pedro farmers’ market, where youth get to see the produce they helped grow in the marketplace. The third field trip is to Alba Organics Farm in Salinas, where we learn about Alba’s program to help first time farmers get off their feet and rolling with their own organic production farm. All three trips are eye-opening experiences because we get a chance to see sustainable farming in action throughout the bay area. If you would like to meet the Dig Crew, come out to the farm during the next three weeks from 8:30am to 12:00pm Wednesday through Friday and help us in the fields! We hope to see you out here!