Youth Program

Learn, grow and lead

Holistic, hands-on garden and culinary educational programs for youth aged three to twenty-four.

Community Workshops and Camps for Kids

Working Food’s Youth Programs aim to empower children by connecting them with our local food community. Through our workshops and camps, kids will develop relationships with the land, ecology, soil, seeds, crops, and, of course, nourishing food. We believe that these experiences foster a sense of belonging, deepen connections to the environment, inspire enthusiasm for growing and using local food, and spark curiosity about the natural world.

This year, we’re excited to launch our first-ever community workshops and camps, open to children aged 8 to 12. Registration is now open for all camps during the 2024-25 school year. Each camp is capped at 12 participants.

Learn more and register!

Empowering youth through food

We offer interdisciplinary learning experiences that encourage curiosity and create opportunities for youth to develop empowering knowledge and skills in safe, shared community spaces.

Five youth garden programs: weekly, hands-on gardening classes and nutrition-centered cooking classes using ingredients grown by students
Young Chefs programs: hands-on culinary education with local, heritage ingredients for kids and teens, and culinary arts training and food safety certification for young adults
Youth Food System Leadership Program: paid, individualized internships for teens, run in collaboration with Chef Empowerment, that connect youth to opportunities in the local food system – from seed to plate.

Youth Garden Programs

In their 9^th year of operation, these programs include close to 100 students each week, and offer the following:

high-quality, in-depth, hands-on gardening classes led by dedicated, experienced professionals
1:5 student-teacher ratio
interdisciplinary learning experiences that encourage curiosity and enhance students’ classroom studies
nutrition-centered cooking classes using ingredients from the garden with culturally relevant recipes to make food that’s familiar and tasty (If kids grow it, they eat it!)
opportunities for students to develop empowering knowledge and skills alongside neighbors and friends in a safe, shared community space
Our garden programs run in collaboration with these incredible local organizations: Cultural Arts Coalition’s George Washington Carver Science Club, Out East Youth Tutoring & Support Services, Greater Duval Neighborhood Association, SWAG CHILD Center for Early Learning, SWAG Family Resource Center and the City of Gainesville’s Clarence R. Kelly Center

Culinary Programs

In their third year of operation, these programs have impacted dozens of teens and young adults and more than 800 meals have been cooked and enjoyed!

Our Culinary Programs include:

Young Chefs – Teen! classes are held online once per month. A meal kit, complete with local produce and specialized kitchen equipment, is delivered to student’s homes the day prior to the class. The Young Chefs then tune in to a live class to cook alongside professional chefs in their home kitchens, making large meals to share with their whole family.
The Young Chef’s Pop-Up Restaurant celebrates the end of the year-long Young Chefs – Teen! program, and students run their own farm-to-table restaurant for their families.
Young Chefs – Project Youthbuild is a specialized vocational track within Project Youthbuild wherein Working Food provides culinary arts training and food safety certification for young adults.
The Youth Food Systems Leadership program, run in collaboration with Chef Empowerment, provides paid, individualized internships for teens that connect them to opportunities in the local food system – from seed to plate.
Our culinary programs run in collaboration with these incredible local organizations: Chef Empowerment, Greater Duval Neighborhood Association, Out East Youth Tutoring & Support Services, and Project Youthbuild