The Food Project

The Food Project (Boston)

Since 1991, The Food Project has built a national model of engaging young people in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. Each year, we work with over a hundred teens and thousands of volunteers to farm on 37 acres in eastern Massachusetts in the towns and cities of Beverly, Boston, Ipswich, Lincoln and Lynn. We consider our hallmark to be our focus on identifying and transforming a new generation of leaders by placing teens in unusually responsible roles, with deeply meaningful work.

Food from our farms is distributed through our Community Supported Agriculture programs, Farmers' Markets, and to hunger relief organizations. The young people working in our programs participate in all of these distribution streams, giving them valuable job experiences and a personal connection to our food system and issues of food justice.

In addition to producing and distributing food, we help others grow their own through our Community Programs, and provide training resources based on all we've learned since '91.

The Food Project is a founding sponsor of the Real Food Challenge, a campaign organizing students to increase the amount of real food at their schools.

Why Eat Local?

• Local food tastes better! You can eat local food the same day it is picked, so it is fresh.
• Local food is better for the environment! By eating local, you save your food from being transported to distribution centers, processors, and retailers far away.
• Local food supports your community's economy! Buying local food supports local farms and keeps farms in your community.

washing them down

Every day millions of Americans venture to their local grocery stores in hopes of procuring ingredients for breakfasts, dinners, and snacks.

They turn over shiny green apples and squeeze ripe, red tomatoes. Rarely do they stop to ask how their food was produced. Whose hands touched their apples? Where was their carrot pulled from the ground?

A local food system changes this because it gives people the opportunity to take an active role in the production of their food such programs as U-Pick or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Local food systems keep farms in our neighborhoods and sustain the local economy by keeping funds generated from agriculture within the community. They also cut down on pollution by reducing gas emissions from transportation. Most importantly, local food just tastes better!

Eating local will put a face to your food. By supporting local endeavors like farms, CSA’s, farmer's markets and farm stands, you will know who produced your apple, your pepper, and your carrot. Eating local ensures a connection between the consumer and the product.