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| Employing
Alaskan Teens in Gardening
(EATinG) |
| What
is the EATinG Program?
Calypso
created the Employing Alaskan Teens in Gardening (EATinG)
program in 2003 as a way to educate and
empower students to grow food
for themselves and the community. This program provides
students with an innovative way to connect education,
employment, food and community. The EATinG Program
facilitates the development of a network of youth
run gardens in the Fairbanks’ schools,
where students are paid to grow food and operate a small
Community Shared Agriculture (CSA)
program. Operating these gardens as student-run
CSAs ensures that the gardens are maintained
during the summer and contributes significantly to the
financial sustainability of the EATinG program. The EATinG
program establishes a mutually beneficial relationship
where schools have gardens, youth have meaningful employment
and hands-on education opportunities and the community
has access to locally grown food!
In
2006, twelve students were a part of
the EATinG Program, some for a short period of time, two
for the entire summer. Together with the EATinG
Supervisor, these students tended the school
gardens at Effie Kokrine Charter School and University
Park Elementary School and raised food for themselves
and 20 Fairbanks families! Please visit
the Schoolyard
Garden Initiative page for more on the history of
EATinG and the Schoolyard Garden Initiative. |
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| How
to Get Involved
Are you . . .
A
Student?
Apply to work in the garden!
Contact Calypso by phone at 451-0691 or by e-mail
for details!
Interested
in working with youth?
Apply to be the 2007 EATinG
Supervisor!
A
Community Member?
1. Financially support
the EATinG Program through a membership donation or a special
donation to EATinG. Click here to
learn more!
2. Become an EATinG CSA shareholder!
Visit our CSA page for details!
3. Volunteer with the EATinG Program.
Visit our Volunteer page for more
information!
A
Business or Service Club?
Become a contributing sponsor of the EATinG program,
through a donation of funds or in-kind donations. Visit the
Support Calypso! page to learn more! |
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| Meet
the 2006 EATinG Student Gardeners |
| Hello!
I’m Blake! I enjoy working in the
EATinG garden because of the people and
the mad, crazy skills I obtain. Its quetoe.
Yea. My favorite veggie to eat is kale
and my favorite veggie to harvest is salad mix
because I get to use cool knives (my knife’s name
is Bob). One thing I have learned since I started working
here is cut worms are evil (I have employed
many in army of doom). My favorite job in the garden is
pick-up (when shareholders come to pick-up their
veggies). My hobbies outside of the garden are writing,
sketching, planning, and music. |
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| I’m
Charles. I like the garden cuz’ it
has food. I like carrots.
My favorite job is thinning. My hobbies are BMX,
not racing BMX. |
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| Hey!
My name is Michelle. I like the garden
because I made new friends and it is very
fun to work here. My favorite veggie is carrots.
I learned a lot of gardening tips. I love to weed!
I used to hate it. I have four dogs and eights puppies.
I love to swim, to bike, to draw Anime
and Manga. I like to write stories and read, and I
love Effie Kokrine Charter School, and I
love the garden! I love to hang out
with my homies, and I love to listen to music, and that’s
me! |
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Top Ten Reasons to Work
at the EATinG Garden
(written by the 2006 EATinG Student Gardeners)
10.
It’s the perfect place to face your fear of butterflies!
9. It’s fun to play in the dirt . . .
um . . . SOIL!
8. The people!!
7. You get paid to have fun!
6. The grazing is great!
5. It’s purty in the garden!
4. We learn skills for life.
3. Veggies are good for you. They prevent scurvy.
2. Great food . . . great flowers . . . great
flowers that are food.
1. One word: KOHLRABI.
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I
Wish I Could
by Blake Gurtler, 2006 EATinG Student Gardener
It
has taken me five tries now to start this article, but I just
can’t find the words. There is so much to say . . . so
many memories. I wish I could walk you through them. Then I
would show you . . .
What
it’s like to come to work in the rain and see Ray with
her hood up, working like a dog. Her cheeks and nose totally
red, smiling as if she had found the meaning of life in that
dark brown earth (maybe she did).
What
it’s like to look at a new plant and hear Charles ask,
“Can we eat it?”
To
hand a shareholder their veggies and hear their comment on the
size or whether it’s their favorite or not.
To hear Megan’s car pull up and run up to greet her.
To sit on the green grass during our five minute break
and talk like we had known each other our whole lives.
To look at a green patch of earth and say, “I helped do
that.”
To pick nasturtiums in the sun and to try to let a few
get into the bag.
To have your accomplishments and hard work noticed.
To teach and to learn from everyone.
To let you feel the joy of getting a new worker and then the
pang of loss when they leave.
To become a part of something more than yourself.
To become a part of a culture that you yourself made.
To grow up and still be a kid.
To be a gnomie.
Yes, I truly doubt I can properly convey how much working
at the Calypso EATinG garden has done for me, or even less
so how much it has meant, but perhaps one day you’ll find
out for yourself.
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All
materials on this Web site are © Calypso Farm and Ecology Center |
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