Isabelle Barraza (right) tasted a tomato with Anna Son; both are members of The Food Project.Members of The Food Project, a nonprofit that aims to provide healthy food for those in need, weeded a row of lettuce at a farm in August.Janyia Flonory, with The Food Project, planted scallion seedlings. The nonprofit provides summer jobs for area students.

Nonprofit tackles food insecurity by building a sustainable system

By Auzzy Byrdsell September 9th, 2024 in the Boston Globe

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A group of about 50 people walked through rich rows of okra, bright red tomato plants, and other ripe vegetables at one of The Food Project’s farms in August.

They were touring the nonprofit’s Dorchester farm and greenhouse to learn more about its efforts to provide fresh and affordable food to people of any economic background in Massachusetts, a critical need in a state where 34 percent of households reported not having or not being able to afford enough food each month.

The Food Project is trying to remedy this issue by providing food to needy families and educating teenagers from the Boston area and Eastern Massachusetts about agriculture and nutrition. It grows around 200,000 pounds of food each year that it sells at affordable prices at project-run farmers markets in Boston’s Dudley neighborhood and in the city of Lynn, the first farmers markets in the state to accept electronic SNAP benefits and pilot a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-matching program that’s now used across Massachusetts, according to The Food Project’s website.

It also installs 100 raised-bed gardens each year for local households and organizations as part of the nonprofit’s firm belief in people’s right to grow their own fresh food.

In an attempt to bring more awareness to the problem of food insecurity, Governor Maura Healey’s administration held the state’s first annual Urban Agricultural Week in August showcasing eight local farms, including The Food Project. The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture sponsored tours of the farms, providing transportation between them. People could see how the farms tackled food insecurity and learn about their different programs and initiatives.

John Wang, The Food Project’s co-director of strategy and organization support, said since the project was founded in 1991, one of its goals has been finding which communities are facing food insecurities and why.

“Whether it’s intentional or unintentional, there is a system that doesn’t grant access for local fresh, healthy foods for certain folks,’’ he said.

A study from The Greater Boston Food Bank showed people reporting the most food insecurity were largely from historically marginalized communities or struggled economically. The study, which surveyed over 3,000 Massachusetts adults from November 2023 to March 2024, found those who reported that they lacked basic access to safe and nutritious food were mostly people from Black, Hispanic, and Alaska Native communities; college students; and LGBTQ+ people.

Danielle Andrews, Boston farms and greenhouse manager at the project, said the organization prioritizes and works with families they can directly affect and educate on how to get fresh foods. She wants The Food Project to address what she said is a misconception that families don’t want fresh fruits and vegetables.

“My experience is that everybody actually really does want them and they can’t afford them, so figuring that out is really just better for all of us and leads to a healthier society,’’ she said.

During the Aug. 12 tour, people saw that over 20 youth workers were spread out from the project’s garden to the greenhouse in their green Food Project shirts. Some held baskets of harvested crops, and others worked on the grounds, planting.

The Greater Boston Seed Crew is an agricultural youth development program that hires teenagers ranging from ages 14 to 18. The project pays them $15 an hour and teaches thembasic agriculture and farming. Students can work in the summer or during the school year.

They learn harvesting, weeding, preparing beds for planting, transporting crops, and managing farming equipment and facilities.

Nox Southard, 17, said more youths should get involved with agriculture. Southard, a peer leader for the crew who was working his third summer with the program, said most people his age don’t participate in agriculture because they have not been exposed to why it’s important and what kind of work is available for them.

“You don’t ever think, ‘I can do this,’ until you get in a real-life space of moving things around, seeing people you’re helping, handing things to people, and even kind of suffering in the heat some days,’’ he said.

Before joining The Food Project, Southard thought jobs meant having a strict supervisor who dictated tasks to their employees. But he found his supervisors at the project flexible and understanding.

Since theSeed Crewfocuses on motivating students to work in or learn more about agriculture, crew members are encouraged to communicate with their supervisors. Everyone working at The Food Project believes in the mission, so those in the crew are receptive to feedback about how they can improve their work on the farm.

Southard said joining the project brought him out of his comfort zone and gave him a new perspective on how youth can influence what food families have access to. He wants to encourage more middle school and high school students to get involved in agriculture and advocate for farmers to open up more space for youth in the profession.

Under the hot sun, Southard loaded newly harvested tomatoes in a truck. He was glad The Food Project gave him a direct connection to farming and agriculture and taught him about food insecurity in the state. He looks to share this hope for change.

Auzzy Byrdsell can be reached at austin.byrdsell@globe.com.