The North Country Food Day Youth Summit was held on October 22 at SUNY Potsdam. Almost 100 students and teachers from 12 North Country schools attended this day of workshops, networking and action planning on important food issues.
Keynote Dominic Frongillo
Keynote speaker Dominic Frongillo drew attention to the intersection of climate change and food issues. He was also a passionate advocate for how young people can make a difference in their communities.
Workshop topics included school gardens, farm to school programs, food careers, youth leadership, hunger, junk food, and healthy snacks.
North Country School students
working on their action plan
A key part of this
program is the action planning session where school teams plan a project to undertake back in their school or community. Massena, Morristown, and Ogdensburg schools are working on gardening projects. Other school projects are focused on healthy eating. Gouverneur plans in-school taste testing of healthier foods. Lafargeville is planning a nutrition component of a school health fair. The North Country School is working on better understanding students needs and tastes in order to improve their menu planning.
Some comments from students who attended:
The most valuable part of the Youth Summit was learning about where our food comes from. - Rachel, Morristown Central School
I see that problems in my community can and should be solved. - Ashley, Morristown Central School
The most valuable part of the Youth Summit was learning how to start an action plan. - anonymous student
The North Country Food Day Youth Summit is made possible with the generous support of our sponsors who include the following:
Thank you to the amazing volunteer planning committee who helped put this event together, to our great student interns, and to all of the volunteers who were there on Summit day.
GardenShare - it takes a community
It takes the involvement of the entire community to work on solving a problem like hunger in our midst. In the coming weeks, at this time of Thanksgiving and various holiday celebrations, we will be taking time to highlight and recognize some of the people who make what we do possible. We are grateful for their involvement.
Watch for something in the mail and follow us on Facebook, on our blog, and at www.gardenshare.org and to learn more about the people who make this important work possible.
Here are just a couple of examples:
"The problems of poverty and hunger in our community are profound. I have long appreciated the work of GardenShare to get at the root of these problems, and I think this small organization can make a difference for many of our North Country neighbors." -
Carol Pynchon, Volunteer President of the Board of Directors
"I volunteer for GardenShare because I believe that good food...and access to it...is at the core of so much that is important in the lives of individuals, communities
and ecosystems." - Margaret Harloe, Outreach and Education Volunteer
If you are inspired to join us with a gift of time, talent, or treasure, it will be most appreciated and will make a difference!
Why is GardenShare important?
Help us understand why you support GardenShare by answering this simple,
three question survey!
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Growing Community Social
Saturday,
January 23, 2015
2:00 PM The TAUNY Center FREE!
Save the date! Our Growing Community Social will be a chance to mix and mingle with GardenShare supporters, volunteers, and staff, while we celebrate this year's Growing Community Award recipient.
Watch for more information coming soon!
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Volunteers needed!
Are you interested in volunteering with GardenShare on some of our programming designed to solve the problem of hunger through policy and food systems work?
Current needs include:
Volunteers to help plan a Trivia Night fundraiser in February
Volunteers to help with Outreach and Education activities around food and hunger
A future need will be for volunteers to help promote the Farmers Markets to people receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). We'll also be looking for volunteers to support the Farmers Market managers in each community next year.
Saturday, 
