Fighting Food Insecurities with Youth

Author: Ariana Methvin

As the word hunger has changed to “food insecurity”, so has the world’s richest country in its confidence to defend it.

The United States of America has fell victim to the leading issue agriculturist fight today, hunger. As a US citizen, one out of every five households on your street are food insecure.

As unrealistic that may feel to someone who is a resident in America it’s our genuine reality. In West Texas, the South Plains Food Bank is working with our future to fight it, our youth. The South Plains Region faces the issue of vulnerable food availability just like the rest of the country, and this is what they are doing to find a solution.

With their slogan “END HUNGER. GIVE HOPE. ENRICH LIVES”, the South Plains Food Bank has impacted the youth in the South Plains Community, through their local GRUB program. The GRUB program is just one of the many extensions of the SPFB, aiding to at-risk youth. The Growing Recruits for Urban Business is a uniquely designated program that South Plains Food Bank CEO David Weaver explains to being a life altering experience in young adults.

“We always say that we grow food there but we also grow young people as well,”Weaver said.

If you find yourself in the South Plains Region, let’s say Lubbock, Texas to be specific, remember every time you see a child. For every four children you come across, imagine that one of them is skipping a regular meal. That is the reality in this region. This is where the GRUB program is stepping in. The GRUB program has currently been open for 12 years and has served over 1,200 children. Over a thousand kids have been touched in multiple ways to stay motivated, become successful in their futures and to be encouraged to end their “at risk” paths. Most of these kids are food insecure, looking for a way out of their poverty stricken life cycle, or just simply trying to find a motivational stepping stone for success.

With the involvement and collaborations of our very own agricultural communications students here at Texas Tech University, the GRUB program has begun to grow with the additional aid of an Ag Leadership class whose students have dedicated their semester long projects to contributing to the GRUB farm, in hopes to helping kids find their purpose in life through this youth program.

For the 2016 Spring semester, the Team Leadership Development in Agriculture and Natural Resources class with Dr. Amy Boren Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications, have been performing repair work around the farm. Providing services such as beautifying common areas, by doing this the youth have areas to relax and enjoy the farm as they experience the benefits of expanding their knowledge in agriculture, work ethic and how these experiences can impact their lives.

“The GRUB farm works on a limited budget and staff. Having student teams with knowledge of agriculture come in and assist with the development of projects to improve the farm is a tremendous help,” said Boren.

The class is also expanding chicken coops, constructing fences for bee habitats, preparing soil for planting crops, and upgrading various fixtures around the farm, such as picnic tables.One of the many Texas Tech students working on the projects, Cory Edge, weighs in on the programs importance.

“It’s such an incredible outlet for at risk youth to learn about agriculture and how to grow their own food. Programs like the GRUB farm are keeping kids active and away from otherwise harmful situations.”

By just knowing how to self sustain themselves and their families they are educating themselves on how they can contribute to the rotation of life that agriculture provides.

The director of the GRUB Program, Lynn Weir, controls the 5.5-acre GRUB farm, which provides fruits and vegetables to the Lubbock community, as well as the groups of kids who grow them themselves. Located on 304 76th St, Lubbock TX, it is the primary work site for the GRUB program. This is where the program takes place, reaching approximately 100 young people (from 14 to 21 years old) annually. The GRUB program utilizes the farm and community gardens as platforms to the youth’s education, learning life skills and work ethic.

“Our youth look up to these Tech students,” Lynn says, “it’s a good experience for the youth and for the Tech students as well.”

Lynn describes the mission of the GRUB program and what the youth are gaining from the experience.

“We’re teaching them life skills, street smarts and how to succeed when they get out on their own,” said Weir.

Along with the responsibilities the youth gain from learning about gardening, harvesting and marketing their produce to share holders, the GRUB program provides classes on nutrition and living healthy lifestyles. These same kids also have employment opportunities that are provided for the kids who are interested in a deeper connection to the program. In the summers, the GRUB program offers 20 positions for student jobs. These jobs are coveted positions for the youth that the program hopes to increase in the future, so more kids can stay involved and grow as hard working young adults.

For the GRUB director, it is common for her to be involved with kids whose parents are the food banks costumers. The kids who get the chance to have a paying position on the farm often bring home food for their families who are suffering from food insecurities. Even as children, they are frequently looked at as providers of their families and the GRUB program gives them the chance to learn how to get out of their sequences in life for the future.

Volunteer work is welcomed to help expand these opportunities for students like these.

From churches, civic groups, clubs and schools like Texas Tech University who want to come and give their time to these kids who are actively trying to better their opportunities and education.

Weir works with the university on encouraging the youth to strive for a higher education. “We work really closely with Tech,” Lynn said, describing the activities and services provided by the students. Lynn talks about the kids expressing their desires to attend Texas Tech through the interactions and involvement through the farm and community service projects. Also discussing the importance with students in maintaining their grades and making good choices. She described one student expressing their interest in attending Texas Tech,“Oh man this has been so great getting to visit Tech, I’m going to go to college”.

David Weaver tells the community, “There is four ways you can help support the food bank: one is to give time, which is volunteering; the other is to give food, the third is to give their voice and we always need funds to operate, making donations really helps us.”

The South Plains Food Bank GRUB program welcomes all volunteers and contributions to help with their cause. Every small act of involvement impacts these kids lives. This program is not only helping those who can’t afford nutritious food, but giving at risk youth a chance to thrive in an environment in which they can learn. Encouraging the community in finding their own opportunities in helping the program grow.

Now that the SPFB has relocated into a new facility, they can take in an abundant amount of fresh produce, increasing their storage capacity, tripling their storage for dry foods and quadrupling the storage space for frozen storage as well as fresh produce for the sole purpose to “help alleviate hunger and give hope,” said Weaver.

The potential for the program to have a lasting impression on the Lubbock community is great. The hope is to continue to get people around the area to notice the program and invite the team to design for them. In doing so, the landscape architecture program can continue water wise research for the future.