EAST THETFORD, Vt. (WCAX) – The Teen Farm Fellowship at the Cedar Circle Farm in East Thetford not only gives kids the opportunity to earn some summer cash, but also to learn about agriculture. And that learning takes place far beyond the fields.
A handful of teens shovel mulch into wheelbarrows at the Food Justice Garden in Sharon. It’s a plot of land that focuses on the rights of all people to access free food. The service learning project is one of several daily afternoon field trips for the Teen Farm Fellowship.
“I don’t know what I want to be but I do know it is definitely in this field,” said Julia Mathews, a farm fellow.
The new workforce development program is hosted by the Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center.
Mathews is from Massachusetts and is staying with her grandparents who live near the farm for the summer.
“Feeling the satisfaction of giving back and receiving at the same time. Receiving vegetables and good food sources locally and giving back knowing that I took care of the plants,” Mathews said.
When the kids aren’t visiting farms across the region learning about different regenerative practices, they are in the fields at Cedar Circle managing the harvest.
“Maybe they want to go into the field of agriculture but maybe they want to go into a related field– policy, food industry-related fields. But if that doesn’t take for them, if they walk away feeling like a more informed citizen, that’s something that we want to do,” said Kelsey Head of Cedar Circle Farm.
“I really just wanted to spend the summer outside in the sun,” said Ollie Emery of East Thetford.
Emery lives down the road from the farm. The Thetford Academy student isn’t quite set on farming for a career path just yet but likes working with his hands and the paycheck that comes with it.
“I really just did not want to work inside so I thought it would be a great opportunity,” Emergy said.
At the end of the 10-week program, the students will each have to identify a problem facing the industry and present their findings and possible solutions.