Food & Farming Leaders of Today & Tomorrow
Posted: August 18, 2010
Categories: News from Sustain Ontario
Sustain Ontario is very fortunate to be working with five amazing interns through the Canada Summer Jobs Program.
The five students Dulaa Osman, Nafissa Pinas, Vincentia Amoako, Nathan Griffith and Alex Shave have been busy working on various food security projects at two different sites.
In the morning, the students travel to the University of Toronto and start their day maintaining the green roof garden on top of Trinity College producing various crops from lettuce, kale, to tomatoes. They also hone their culinary skills with the famous Hot Yam (a student-run vegan and sustainable kitchen at the University of Toronto) cooking healthy seasonal foods to be served at an affordable price to students.
As Vincentia aptly stated, “it’s not just about the importance of food, the internship experience has been great in terms of friendships.†The program has provided support and camaraderie amongst a group of youths who are passionate about food and making a positive difference in the community.
In the afternoon, the interns travel North to the Lawrence Height’s Community Centre where they spend the rest of the day either working on a rain barrel project for the organic garden located at the back of the centre, organizing food workshops for youth, or cooking a communal meal using ingredients that they themselves have grown. When I asked Dulaa about some of the interesting things he has learned from doing this internship, he smiled and told me about the trick he learned of spraying skim milk on plants as an alternative method of killing pests. Anyone can see the passion in his eyes and hear the enthusiasm in his voice. Dulaa continues on to tell me about the important contribution that youth bring to the table in creating a more sustaina
ble food system.
Nafeesa is enjoying her newfound interest in gardening and is quickly becoming an expert. Vincentia who has a significant amount of food growing experience mentioned that being involved in food work means that she is more reflective about what she eats and how she can cook using more seasonal ingredients. I was curious and asked her about the bottle she was holding, which was filled with ice water, mint and lemon and she proudly said, “I made it and the mint is from the gardenâ€
This Canada Summer Jobs opportunity, a joint partnership between Sustain Ontario, Hart House at the University of Toronto and Lawrence Height Community Centre provides a great opportunity for youth to hone their skills and gain valuable work experience. In our case, Sustain Ontario is very lucky to have a group of devoted and passionate interns who are committed to their community and a more sustainable food system.