1. Beyond Tokenism: Youth
Leadership in the Food Justice
Movement
Regional Environmental Council
(R.E.C.)
Worcester, MA
www.recworcester.org
508-799-9139

2. Let’s break that ice!

4. What is the R.E.C.?
• Founded in 1971
• Grassroots
environmental justice
non-profit
organization
dedicated to building
healthy, sustainable
and just communities
in Worcester.
• Two major programs:
Environmental Health
and Justice and Food
Justice

6. Where are we?
• Located in:
– Worcester, MA
– 45 miles west of
Boston
– 4 hour drive from
New York City
– Second Largest city
in New England
– Home
to 181,045 people!!!
We are here!!

9. • Over 36% of Worcester residents live below 200%
of the poverty level, 50% higher than the
statewide average
• 63% of Worcester Public School students are low
income versus the statewide average of 28.9%
• In the 14 lowest income Worcester census tracts,
1 child in 3 lives in a family unable to meet basic
needs for food. 1 in 5 children under the age of
12 is hungry or at risk for hunger.
• In 2008 Worcester Food Pantries and Soup
Kitchens served over 50,000 people and
1,000,000 meals.
• The amount of hungry people in Central
Massachusetts has risen 40% over 5 years.

10. What is R.E.C.’s Food Justice
Program?
• Mission: Increasing accessibility to healthy food
through location, affordability and empowerment
• Cornerstones: youth employment, self-sustainability/
entrepreneurship and grassroots organizing
Current Projects:
YouthGROW
UGROW Community Gardens Network
REC Community Farmers Markets
Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters™

13. What is YouthGROW?
• Urban agriculture program
• Youth employment
• Leadership and Community
Organizing Curriculums
• Two farm campuses in low income
neighborhoods
• Year Round Programming
• 50 teenagers

15. Summer Fall
•6 week urban farming • Monthly unpaid retreats:
summer program recreational and
•8 hour days, 3 days a educational
•Fall internships available in
week College Access,
•Wednesday field trips Cooperative Business,
to other farm sites Farm Work, and School
•Hourly pay through Gardens.
state funding •Stipend offered.
Winter
Spring
• Retreats,
Junior Staff are hired.
Internships, and
They hire Youth
Volunteer
Leaders and
Opportunities still
then both groups hire
offered
Youth Mentors and
• Strategic Program
new
Visioning
core youth.
for next season

20. Team
Projects
Food
Justice
Support
Project
Focuses
Internships
Program
Visioning
&
Advising

24. Beyond Tokenism: YouthGROW’s
Youth Leadership Development
Model
• Youth Leadership Track
• Consensus based decision making

25. Youth Leadership Track
21 Core Youth – 7 Youth Leaders – 4 Junior Staff
Core Youth
• After 1 year as a core participant in summer farming and year
round after school program core youth can qualify through
increased year round requirements of community service, retreat
attendance and internships to apply to be a youth leader
Youth Leader
• Increased after school paid work through spring to plan specific of
summer program and engage in a leadership curriculum
Junior Staff
• 2 Assistant Farm Managers and 2 Assistant Youth Coordinators work
year round on specific agriculture and administrative program
support
Application and training support for youth through leadership track

28. Consensus
Consensus based decision making method is
utilized for all major program decisions including :
• program structure development
• seasonal planning
• policy including behavior contract
development
• disciplinary issues
We train in consensus tools and concepts with
youth leaders and large group discussions. We
practice examples for small issues.

29. Choice Creative
Solutions Blocks
Assign
Roles CONSENSUS!
Proposals
Establish/Review Facilitated
Ground rules Dialogue

31. Why Consensus?

33. Consensus is NOT
Voting
A dictatorship
Easy
Fast

34. Consensus and Youth Leadership in Practice;
Case Studies

35. Case Study 1
Jonathan is a popular YouthGROWer that has been apart of the program
for two years. He began his second year as a youth leader, and was
recently promoted to Assistant Farm Manager. He was chosen to
represent YouthGROW with three of his peers at a national food justice
conference out of state. At the beginning of the summer season, each
YouthGROWer is asked to sign and agree to a group generated agreement.
Additionally, each conference participant was asked to sign a contract
specific to the conference rules and regulations. On the third day of the
conference, the hall monitor on Jonathan’s floor smelled marijuana
coming from the room Jonathan shared with Calvin, an adult Youth
Mentor. When confronted by program and conference staff, both Jonthan
and Calvin denied that they were smoking. As a result of the incidence
the entire group was asked to leave immediately. The group decided to
bring the issue back home to the larger group, in order to hold a council
meeting to come to consensus on the issue.
Questions
How do you think the use of consensus would be beneficial in this case?
Can you identify any influence that identity, or biases that may affect
individual perspectives?

36. Case Study 2
Tiana, a youth leader been consistently late to planning meetings in the preseason
spring term in violation of the program behavior contract. A staff member has
given her a warning about her tardiness. After an additional late arrival a staff
member pulls her aside and ask her why she’s been showing up so late. Tiana
shares that her 1 year old child is dropped off from daycare at her program
housing at 3 when she gets home from high school. She then has to take the bus
to drop off her son at the fathers house and then walk to the meeting.
After two more late instances, other youth in the prgram begin to show up late
thinking it is acceptable. The staff member decides to call a council meeting to
address the issue.
Questions
How do you think the use of consensus would be beneficial in this case?
Can you identify any influence that identity, or biases that may affect individual
perspectives?

37. Questions?