In Worcester, Students Get Taste Of Urban Agriculture

WORCESTER, MA — Nestled among a cluster of former industrial buildings in Worcester's Main South neighborhood, there's an urban farm that may be helping to grow a new crop of farmers.

The Regional Environmental Council (REC), a local food justice nonprofit, has started a new program to introduce hundreds of Worcester 3rd and 5th graders to the world of agriculture. The organizers hope the program will show students where their food comes from, and how they can help grow it.

REC Worcester began offering the field trips in spring 2022 as part of the nonprofit's Urban Garden Resources of Worcester (UGROW) School Garden network, which supports 25 gardens at public schools across the city. Eliza Lawrence, REC's school gardens coordinator, said the field trips show students how the school gardens are tied to bigger farms. This year, REC is planning to bring the students back for more field trips in the fall during harvest time.

The elementary school visits are also linked to REC Worcester's YouthGROW program, which hires local high school students to work in the nonprofit's two urban farms. The YouthGROW workers help maintain the farms that supply produce for REC Worcester's annual farmers markets, and help with activities like the elementary school field trips.

"It's good for the kids to see how this exists in a city," Lawrence said. The older students also act as role models, showing the youngsters producing food is something they can also do.

On a recent Friday, groups of students from Goddard Elementary School were participating in different activities across the LaGrange Street urban farm in Main South, including learning how to plant crops, exploring fruit trees and touring fields and greenhouses full of crops.

One group led by North High School graduating senior Kimora Scott and Clark University freshman Owen Chase — who previously worked in the YouthGROW program — tasted basil leaves, and marveled at what foods like ginger and garlic look while still planted in the ground — much different from how they end up in the supermarket.

Lawrence said the farm field trips may also encourage students to care for school gardens while on summer break. Students tend the gardens as part of their curriculum, but volunteers typically take over in summer.

The program is also important for young people who migrated to Worcester, Lawrence said. Some may see the urban farm and connect it to how their families lived in rural areas before arriving here. The LaGrange Street farm has also begun planting new crops like chilies and ginger that are more culturally broad.

The ultimate goal is to produce for people to eat and enjoy, after all.

"When they know they've grown it, they are more likely to eat it," Lawrence said.

Learn more about REC Worcester's network of school and community gardens here.