The Wave: Green Teen Program Aims to Train Biggest Cohort of Youth Farmers Yet

The Campaign Against Hunger (TCAH)’s Green Teen program is returning for its tenth year in Far Rockaway, and its organizers aim to recruit the largest graduating class in the program’s history this year.

The program offers paid apprenticeships to young adults aged 18-24, who help operate TCAH’s Far Rockaway farm while also gaining a wide array of professional and personal development skills.

In past years, an average of 10-15 youth graduated from the 10-month program, according to Howard Brown, Youth Empowerment Manager at TCAH. This past December, the organization celebrated the graduation of 20 youth, and this year it hopes to see 50 students pass through the program in two five-month cohorts.

However, Brown said that the program is “open to as many young people in Far Rockaway as we can accommodate.”

Over the five months, participants will learn about “the entire process of farming,” from preparing garden beds to harvesting produce and selling it to the community, he said. They are given crash courses on agriculture, horticulture, food justice, nutrition, and business and management.

The program’s goal is to instill a passion for locally-grown produce and nutrition, and the knowledge on how to combat food deserts like Far Rockaway through urban agriculture, according to the TCAH website. Each year, the Green Teens distribute about 20,000 pounds of produce to the surrounding community, it adds.

Participants can also take part in culinary demonstrations, attend workshops on agriculture and food justice, and even go on college tours. Additionally, they receive training on professional skills like resume writing and filing tax returns, and coaching on self-development and health.

“It’s really providing a space for them to explore, and really unearth talents or gifts that they didn’t necessarily know that they have,” said Brown. “And this helps them to make informed decisions on where it is that they want to make their next step.”

Local residents are often unaware that farming is a career choice available to them in the city, and a “fulfilling” one at that, he said.

Many participants go on to college, and others start their own businesses, he said. Six participants from the last cohort were offered jobs with TCAH upon their graduation.

Between this program, a summer internship for youth aged 14-18, and other workforce programs, the BedStuy-based organization seeks to work with 130 youth in Brooklyn and Far Rockaway this year.

The organization’s new 1.5-acre farm in Edgemere, which should be operational this spring according to Brown, provides the capacity for this expansion. A greenhouse dedicated to aquaponics, or the growing of plants using only nutrient-rich water, will increase the learning opportunities available.

The deadline to apply for the first cohort of the year is March 11, and June 21 for the second. You can learn more at the TCAH website.