Written by MPH student ‘20 Elsbeth Kane

On Saturday, September 15^th, 2018, MPH students gathered in the mid-morning to volunteer their time at a farm off of West State Street in Ithaca. There, they were greeted by Dan Flerlage. Dan is one of the co-founders of the Youth Farm Project, a non-profit community engagement and food justice program sponsored by Cornell’s Center for Transformative Action. The Youth Farm Project aims to connect youth in Ithaca to their community and to their land. They teach the concept of sustainability and, in the words of the Youth Farm Project itself, “engage young people as agents of change in building an equitable food system.” The Project is able to call this 10-acre farm off of Route 96B – land that is made available by a generous lease from the Ithaca Waldorf School.

Flerlage introduced the MPH students to the history of the Youth Farm Project. Almost 10 years ago, various community engagement organizations came together to create a summer job opportunity for teens that would allow them to build leadership, teamwork, and communication skills through a farming experience. They recognized the many challenges, stressors, and prejudices that the diversity of youth experience in today’s world, and they identified the potential for a program where teens could positively contribute to the health and wellbeing of their community through farming. The summer program brings together diverse youth ages 14-18 to tend to four acres of vegetables, manage a flock of chickens, and ultimately see their own produce move from seed to market. As they engage with the land and the market, they are challenged to think critically about the environmental and social injustices that exist in the current food system and ultimately become empowered in their ability to make change.

Dan led the MPH students to one of the fields, where they donned gloves and began to help clear weeds away from the peas that had been planted there. Organized in an assembly line of “weeders” down the row, Dan and the MPH students chatted about how the Youth Farm Project has grown over the years and dramatically expanded its programming. In 2016, The Youth Farm Project (YFP) merged with Wood’s Earth, a food-based, youth engagement program with a complementary mission founded by Cornell MPH’s very own Audrey Baker. Since the merge, YFP has been able to make efficient use of community manpower and resources to expand their reach. Today, in addition to the Summer Program and other initiatives surrounding food equity and justice, YFP coordinates the Fresh Snack Program, which provides free, fresh, fruit and vegetable snacks to over 1,500 elementary-aged students in Ithaca, through a collaboration with other partners in the area.

After a mid-morning snack of fresh tea and apples, the MPH students geared up for more volunteer work, turning compost, weeding celery, and even digging up potatoes. During the growing season, YFP is always in need of, and appreciative of, community volunteers who can help tend to the farm. Students had the opportunity to speak with Dan about the MPH program at Cornell, particularly about their focus on interdisciplinary approaches to health challenges and their curricular focus on the social, economic, and structural determinants of health. Dan remarked that he was “deeply impressed” by the MPH students. He lauded what he learned of the innovative Public Health programming at Cornell, commenting that it seem to attract “people who are genuinely motivated, hopeful, and forward thinking, and who see the need to think in terms of nested systems.”

After completing the morning’s work, the MPH students hopped in the back of the farm truck to get back to the barn, where they parted ways for the afternoon. They have voiced their enthusiasm for maintaining a relationship with YFP and continuing to support its mission. Myranda Baumgartner, MPH ’20, reflected on the experience, “as someone from out of state, it was amazing to see the dynamics of farm life in New York and to see the passion and dedication local farmers have for the youth in Ithaca and surrounding areas.”