Youth Food Justice Program
The IRC Youth Food Justice Program teaches about nutrition and small scale organic growing while providing academic enrichment, mentoring, and job readiness training through garden programs at two high schools in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego.
School Based
In partnership with Crawford and Hoover High Schools, the IRC offers one of the most innovative school gardening programs in the San Diego Unified School District. Located in dense, diverse, and low-income urban areas, our school garden programs pioneer field based projects that
- promote healthy eating and sustainable agriculture,
- advance academic learning and achievement,
- instill civic responsibility,
- encourage community service, and
- provide a forum for youth to develop valuable life skills.
Paid Internships
Each year, the IRC facilitates 90 paid school semester length garden internships that are open to any student at Crawford or Hoover High School. The IRC Garden Club Interns are trained in organic gardening practices and sustainable agricultural principles such as
- composting and soil fertility,
- irrigation and water conservation, and
- integrated pest management and organic control methods.
Life Skills
In addition to gardening topics, participants are also introduced to life skills such as
- financial literacy,
- budgeting,
- conflict resolution,
- workplace expectations, and
- successful work habits.
Since 2006, the IRC Youth Food Justice Program has been providing a unique avenue for students growing up in an urban setting to learn about food, nutrition, employment, leadership, and life skills.
The IRC Youth Food Justice Program is part of IRC's Youth Programs. For more information, please contact Keegan Oneal at Keegan.Oneal@Rescue.org or +1 619 641 7510k x 315.
Photo: Amberley Middleton/The IRC
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