Morocco RPCV Veronique Latimer works in "The Food Project" to feed the hungry -- and the soul
Project feeds the hungry -- and the soul
By Carole LaMond / News Staff Writer
Sunday, August 17, 2003
LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS -- Field work goes a lot quicker if you're having a good time.
Judging from the happy chatter last week as a crew of teenagers working for The Food Project weeded rows of carrots on a Lincoln field, the workers were having a ball.
The project, now in its 12th year, brings together about 60 urban and suburban youth to farm 31 acres in Lincoln and two and a half acres in Roxbury. About 60 percent of the produce is donated to homeless shelters and soup kitchens in the Boston area or sold at two urban farmer's markets.
Hands-on work, guidance from professional growers and team-building exercises with youth supervisors yields far more than 200,000 pounds of vegetables.
"I feel very lucky. Working at the Food Project and being exposed to this community at such a young age really shaped what I wanted to do," said Latimer, who served two years in the Peace Corps and plans to work in education and community art.
"The most important thing is the community we build. It's spending a summer growing together," said Veronique Latimer, 28, the project's outreach coordinator who started as a teenage crew member while a student at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.
"The young people get a real sense of accomplishment and community. They grow and are challenged in ways they never expected," she said.
During the seven-week program, the participants, ages 14 to 16, earn a weekly stipend of $150 and work on nine-person crews made up of workers from different towns.
"The best part is meeting new people that I would never get to interact with or get to know well," said Alexander de Moor, 15, a sophomore at Wayland High School, whose older sister, Emily, participated on a farm crew several years ago.
"She always came home really dirty, and I thought, 'Whoa, that really looks like fun,'" he said. "I didn't expect this much work every day. It's taught me how much work an organic farm takes."
The work is hard, hot, muddy and long. But seeing the end result of their labor -- fresh food delivered to the needy -- makes it all worthwhile.
"It's a push to continue when it's really hot or it's thunder-storming, but that's also the most rewarding," said Sarah Michelson, 15, a Sudbury resident and a sophomore at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. "Manual labor can be hard, but knowing that it's for a good reason makes it worth it."
For many of the teenagers, it's not only their first job, but also the first time they see where their food comes from. And with 90 different varieties of fruits and vegetables, including rutabaga, corn, potatoes, cantaloupe and raspberries, that can be quite an education.
"Swiss chard, now that's really cool looking," said Michelson. "I took it home just to look at it."
De Moor even learned the names of all the weeds from his crew leader. His favorites are purslane and lamb's quarters (two edible weeds). But he doesn't much care for "those prickly ones, the mustards."
Many participants enjoy the summer work crew experience so much that they apply for a summer internship the following year or a yearlong academic program that involves farm work and community service.
Vera Kelsey-Watts, 17, a Wayland resident who is a senior at The Cambridge School in Weston, is spending her third summer working at The Food Project. She is an advanced agricultural intern, helping to farm the newest agricultural fields, 10 acres across from the original acreage on Baker Bridge Road in Lincoln.
"I had never worked on a farm before and it totally sparked this awesome interest in farming," said Kelsey-Watts of her first summer as a farm worker. "It's a really good job when you're 14 or 15 because you're learning, too. It gives you a taste of everything so you really figure out what you want to do."
Kelsey-Watts and her three co-workers are part of a rural enterprise internship that involves seven-hour days working the land as well as delivering produce to shelters and restaurants and planning a workshop at the Northeast Organic Farming Association's annual conference in Amherst this summer.
The enterprise crew maintains eight-and-a-half acres of vegetables and flowers as well as a one-and-a-half acre salsa area bursting with tomatoes, tomatilloes, scallions, hot peppers and cilantro which are harvested and used in salsa production along with the secret ingredient - sweet honey. The fresh salsa is sold in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods Market in Wayland, Donelan's in Lincoln, and grocery stores in Cambridge and Boston.
Boston chefs also contribute their skills by preparing weekly luncheons with the farm's fresh produce for the participants. The luncheons, one in Dorchester and one in Lincoln, are open to the public, but sell out quickly.
"The organic movement is really coming a lot more into people's consciousness, and it's a nice thing to be a part of," said Kelsey-Watts, who likes seeing where her food grows as much as working with the people who harvest it. "I really like seeing that process. It's a great way to connect with people and with the land."
The Food Project experience offers powerful social, personal and educational lessons that are often life-changing for the young workers.
"I feel very lucky. Working at the Food Project and being exposed to this community at such a young age really shaped what I wanted to do," said Latimer, who served two years in the Peace Corps and plans to work in education and community art.
"I learned at an early age that I wanted a lifetime where service is always a part of what I'm doing. We build a community each summer, and it's something people never forget."
