Food from the Roots is an innovative cultural communities production and distribution system focusing on local food access, which is designed to 1) engage low-income residents through a neighborhood based buying club, and 2) sell to ethnically specific restaurant or grocery businesses.
Informed by youth initiated community food assessments, Food from the Roots pools the financial resources of lower income families to purchase community defined culturally appropriate produce at an affordable price and will engage neighborhood ethnic restaurants and/or grocery businesses in the local food system.
Both aspects have been developed from current community partnerships and have already heighten the impact of locally produced produce in our neighborhoods. Food from the Roots seeks to knit these two experiences (youth driven community food assessments and locally focused urban produce growing and distribution) together to improve access of culturally appropriate food to low-income communities, build youth entrepreneurial capacity, and prototype a new model for providing food to cultural communities.
As a result of our community food assessments, the youth in each neighborhood program has come up with a distribution plan that fits their neighborhood needs the most.
Lyndale Neighborhood
Weekly Family Produce Shares – In the Lyndale Neighborhood, as a result of our community food assessment surveys, the Project LEAD determined that the most effective way to distribute their produce would be to have “Family Shares”, modeled after the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) process. This past summer, the Lyndale YFMP has 15 Family Share members who receive a weekly box of produce that they pick up every Friday from our garden. These boxes include: onions, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, raspberries, and lettuce. In addition to these family shares, Lyndale youth also sell tomatoes and potatoes to the Common Roots Café in South Minneapolis. With the success of the Family Shares during the past summer, we plan to try and increase the amount of families next summer enrolled, with a minimum of 25 families.
Powderhorn Neighborhood
Midtown Farmers Market – The youth in the Powderhorn neighborhood continue to sell at this unique bustling farmers market located at the YWCA in South Minneapolis. Through our community food assessments, it was determined by the Powderhorn Project LEAD that selling produce at this market is the most effective way to distribute and sell the most produce to residents from Powderhorn and the surrounding neighborhoods. From early July through the beginning of October, YFMP youth sell a variety market vegetables including: rhubarb, lettuce, carrots, onions, collard greens, chard, tomatoes, cilantro, and tomatillos.
West Side Neighborhood
Direct Sales to El Burrito Mercado – This year the produce we grow are based mainly on the results of our community food assessments. YFMP youth are growing the following vegetables and herbs for wholesale to El Burrito Mercado: pursaline, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions. In addition, after conversations with management at El Burrito Mercado, we decided to grow some things that they either cannot get or that we can produce in higher quality. For example, hot peppers from Mexico spend several days traveling in and out of refrigerated trucks and warehouses. We are growing several varieties of hot peppers so El Burrito Mercado can receive a higher quality product. By the end of the past growing season, West Side Youth Farmers sold over 1,500 pounds of produce to El Burrito Mercado.
