Today, a half-acre garden is thriving: salad greens, tomatoes, and spicy peppers spring up in cheerful orange beds tended by local teenagers. The garden is the centerpiece of the Rockaway Youth Task Force’s work to empower Rockaway’s young people, aged 15 to 25, to civic engagement, volunteer opportunities, mentoring, and professional development. Through the garden, the young people learn that access to fresh, healthy food is their right, and is also in their own hands.
“We figured out the garden is definitely an economic engine, and it’s a communal space… Our plan is to really keep figuring out how it can be a vehicle for greater social change.”
Each bottle of hot sauce purchased directly supports Rockaway Youth Task Force and many other gardens with vibrant social missions to strengthen the fabric of urban neighborhoods.
Other stories from our partners..