Windy City Harvest Programs
Youth Farm
Youth Farm
About the Youth Farm
Providing young people with access to nature early in their childhood has a lasting, positive impact. For the past 20 years, our Youth Farm program has been connecting Chicago’s youth to nature, helping shape a brighter, greener future for them.
Youth Farm teens work in all aspects of sustainable farming and food systems—from planting a farm to managing a beehive, from cooking with the food they grow to selling it at local farm stands and markets. Teens are paid a stipend for four hours per week in the spring and fall, and 20 hours per week in the summer, but the benefits far outweigh the wages they earn.
They build leadership skills and explore career opportunities. We introduce them to sustainability, social-emotional learning, climate-smart lifestyles, and partnership. By the end of the season, they gain valuable job and teamwork experience, discover a whole new way to look at the food they eat, and grow their support system to include supervisors, program coordinators, mentors, and their fellow participants.
Program Components
In partnership with After School Matters, 25 neighborhood high school teens join our team during the spring, summer, and fall growing seasons for paid learning experiences. Adolescents learn the Windy City Harvest models while deepening connections to nature and broader communities, with social emotional service-learning skills that enable adolescents to advocate and navigate pressing social and economic concerns.
Youth Farm participants will learn how to grow and prepare food derived from urban environments with a focus on:
Sustainable Farming and Food Systems
- Land stewardship
- Food production chain
- Environmental justice
- Plant and soil science
- Aquaponics
Experiential Learning and Healing
- Cooking demos
- Nutrition workshops
- Therapeutic horticulture workshops
- Field trips (previous field trips have included the Garfield Park Conservatory, The Morton Arboretum, Chicago Botanic Garden, and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum)
Social-Emotional Learning Skills
- Resilience
- Conflict resolution
- Effective communication
- Building peer support networks
Contact Information
For questions regarding the Youth Farm, please contact Britt Calendo, director of programs.
