Veronica Smith's life reached a crossroads in 2012. The 13-year-old had been on what she now calls "a bad path." Poverty, bad decisions and bad habits left her feeling hopeless about her future. That's when she met Debbie Strickland, program director for Rural Resources' Farm and Food Teen Training program and embarked on a five-year, life-changing experiential learning journey.
Smith credits the program with pointing her life in a better direction.
“Rural Resources showed me I had a very wide range of options,” she said. “They provided me with the support and the structure that a lot of kids in the county need and they put me on a path toward success.” One step along that path to success was connecting her to Berea College in Kentucky. Berea College is a tuition free, federally recognized work college for economically disadvantaged students in Appalachia. It is ranked 60 in the 2017 list of best liberal arts colleges in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.
Smith, who graduated from South Greene High School in Greene County, Tennessee this year, will be attending Berea in the Fall. She had to prove financial need, as well as academic ability to attend the college.
Strickland said Smith is the second teen from the program to attend Berea. She is preceded by Faelyn Campbell, graduate of Greeneville High in 2016. Both Smith and Campbell were among a group of program participants that toured the Berea campus with Strickland in 2014.
Smith said she now has clearly defined goals for her education and career.
“After college, I hope to travel with the Peace Corps and teach in underdeveloped countries,” she said. “Then when I come back, I plan to try to teach English and work in education administration to try to make an impact on small county administrative systems and school systems.”
Smith spent four years in the Farm and Food Teen Training program learning about gardening, livestock, culinary arts, and business planning and implementation. During the summer of 2016 she interned at Rural Resources, helping with communications for the program through Facebook, blogging, and public speaking.
“Veronica excelled in the teen program,” Strickland said. “I feel that Berea, a school of that caliber, is going to open a door for her to change her life and the lives of others. I believe she's going to use this opportunity to the utmost.”
Rural Resources is a nonprofit working to connect farms, food and families through community education, programs to empower food-insecure youth, children’s programs and sustainable agricultural practices to build a vibrant local food economy, as well as addressing the needs of local farmers, gardeners and consumers.
Our Farm and Food Teen Training Program Coordinator Debbie Strickland published a blog on the Grow Appalachia website about the program and one of this year's new participants. Check it out here at this link.
In the Farm and Food Teen Training Program, Food-insecure teens raise produce and livestock, train with local chefs, learn business and leadership skills, and start a food related business. They then have an option for an internship.
The Program follows a 4-year rotation. In year one, teens learn all about growing food, from planting and harvesting to composting and livestock management, and much more! Year two get the teens into the kitchen to learn kitchen safety, cooking and catering. The third and fourth years focus on business planning and organization, implementation of a farm- or food-related enterprise, creating a resume and public speaking. After completing four years of training, teens move on to an internship with a local farmer or chef.
For more information about the program, call Debbie Strickland at Debbie@ruralresources.net or call the office at 423-636-8171.
The Rural Resources Farm and Food Teen Training (FFTT) program has naturally-raised, pastured pork for sale! This is a great opportunity to not only get healthy, local food but to also support the teen program.
The teens bred and cared for the pigs as part of their livestock rotation in the FFTT program. All the proceeds from the pork they sell will go back into the program.
Don't miss out! Order soon!
The FFTT program teaches the teens about livestock, business practices Teens use the knowledge and skills gained in the first two years of the program to earn money for the program during years three and four.
Over a two year period, they explore the basics of business planning and organization. Teens team up to create a business plan for their own farm or food-related enterprise! In the process, they create resumes and develop critical job skills such as teamwork, public speaking, creating business plans, marketing principles and more.
For more information about the program contact Debbie Strickland at Debbie@ruralresources.net or call the office at 423-636-8171.
I found this short film by Anthony Frazier about the Farm and Food Teen Training program here at Rural Resources. Growing the Future was made in 2014, and features our own Miss Debbie with some of our teens. Enjoy!
You may have heard our exciting news.
If you didn't, here it is:
Our deadline for the $200,000 matching
grant has been extended to May 1st!
This is great news for us! The last
update from our bookkeeper shows that the total of the donations that
have come in from the website, generosity.com and checks mailed in to
our office amounts to less than one-quarter of our goal and we
urgently need to raise the rest.
This link will take you to a video on
our generosity.com page that tells our story and shows pictures of
the fire that destroyed our previous building, but here's a synopsis:
Fire devoured our building in 2009.
In 2009, a lightening strike sparked a
fire that devoured our previous building. It was devastating but also
showed us the love and generosity of our community. From the
volunteer firefighters who responded to battle the blaze, preserve
other structures on the property and protect our animals, to
volunteers who helped with clean-up, from C&C Millwright's donation of a small construction office trailer to give us a roof
over our heads to the local churches who lend us their facilities for
cooking classes and events, we have felt the kindness, concern and
support from our community for our youth and our mission.
The office trailer donated by C & C Millwright
Since the fire, staff has worked out of
the trailer and programs have been conducted in the farm's tobacco
barn, outbuildings and a Pavilion donated earlier this year by the
Rotary Club. There is no indoor plumbing on the property.
The staff persevered, continuing to
conduct and develop programs, and then we received a grant from the
Appalachian Regional Commission to build the Farm & Food Learning
Center. The center will house classrooms, a commercial kitchen and
office space. The kitchen space will also be available to residents
of Greene County and surrounding areas to help them establish
food-based businesses. Construction on the building began last July.
“The teens in our Farm & Food
Teen Training program will be able to prepare and preserve the food
they grow on-site and be able to build sustainable farm- and
food-related businesses,” says Sally Causey, Rural Resources'
executive director. “Farm Day Campers won't have to use the
outhouse anymore and students coming for field trips will have
expanded offerings. There is no doubt that this facility will be a
game-changer for hands-on learning opportunities for years to come.”
Funding for the current phase of
construction was raised in 2014 but final costs were greater than
originally estimated and additional funding is needed to finish
construction and purchase the equipment for the commercial kitchen.
Fast forward to a second generous
opportunity from the ARC.
In 2016 we received an offer of a
second grant in the amount of $200,000. In order to qualify for the
grant, Rural Resources must raise $200,000 to show that the building
can be fully completed. We launched a capital campaign in December to
raise the $200,000 we need by January 31st. That deadline
has been extended and we now have just under three months to raise
the remainder of the $200,000.
“Cash and pledges will count towards
the match for the ARC funding for which we were recommended by the
Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development,” says
Causey. “We have a list of needed items and a variety of naming
opportunities that can be found on our website for anyone who would
like to make a specific element of building or a piece of equipment
possible. We have learned from our previous fundraising efforts that
every penny counts and we welcome all sizes of donations and the
ability to speak to any individual or group. All who give will
receive permanent recognition inside the building.”
Why are we asking people to give toward
completing this project? Because we believe the children, the youth
and our community are worth it and will benefit from the Farm &
Food Learning Center for years to come.
Food Demo at the Greene County Fair
“Since we began this program in 2008,
at-risk and food-insecure teens have been learning how to fish, not
just so they can feed themselves, but so they can share their 'fish'
with others,” says Causey. “ It's built into the program that the
kids give back to the community in a number of ways. They donate
fresh produce from their garden to the local soup kitchen and do
cooking and gardening demonstrations at the local farmer's markets
and county fair.”
Teens in the Farm & Food Teen Training Program
The teens also cater a thanksgiving
meal for the elderly, share their knowledge of growing food in their
neighborhoods and some become the cooks and shoppers for their own
families.
“Teens have gone on to do some
impressive things and most importantly the vast majority have gone on
to further their education or go directly into the workplace – in
some cases immediately qualifying for management positions” says
Sally. “The Farm & Food Learning Center will be key to
beginning their own business ventures right on the farm. It will also
provide much needed facilities for Farm Day Camp, our long running
summer program for children along with a whole host of new learning
opportunities for the entire community.”
Would you like to help us reach our
goal to qualify for the ARC grant and touch lives for generations to
come? There are several ways you can contribute.
Visit our website, ruralresources.net,
and click on the support tab. From there, click on the Capital
Campaign tab. Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the
donate button on the left.
Mail your donation to Rural Resources,
2870 Holly Creek Rd., Greeneville, TN 37745. If you bring it in
person you can see the progress on the building.
It's time to sign up for the 2017 session of the Farm and Food Teen Training program!
Orientation is Monday, January 16th from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Greeneville. Any interested teens in middle school or high school can apply for a limited number of slots. The program has a heavy emphasis on hands-on learning. Topics include gardening, livestock, cooking and entrepreneurship. Participation in the program can lead to paid internships and exploring higher education options.
For more information, call Debbie at 423-636-8171.
If you would like to support this program for youth in our community, please visit generosity.com .
Whew! The year sure is wrapping up fast! Our Farm and Food
Teen Training program wrapped up this month with the Teen Dinner on December 6th.
The annual celebration of the teens’ accomplishments, held at First Presbyterian Church in Greeneville, gives everyone a reason to pause and reflect on the year’s program.
This year’s theme was Growing a CEED. The acronym stands for
Cultivate, Equip, Empower and Develop. Those principles are at the heart of the
FFTT program and Rural Resources’ mission to connect farms, food and families.
Teens prepared and served the dinner with the help of Chef
Melissa Rebholz and Severian Simmons, co-owners of River House Farm. The menu
for the dinner included a succulent pork pot roast, gourmet salad, corn bread,
and a delicious cheese cake. Locally-sourced foods for the event came from
Rural Resources, River House Farm, Buffalo Trail Orchard, Ziegenwald Dairy and
Rosey Aviaries & Bee Farms.
Each youth received a certificate of completion for their
year of learning and service. While some will be moving onto the next step in
their program cycle, others have completed the 4-year program and have the
option to enter into internships. Volunteers and supporters also received
certificates and thank you gifts created by the teens and a former program
participant who started a food-based business. Robert Graf, a long-time
supporter who passed away last spring and is dearly missed, was also remembered.
FFTT stats for the year include 5,596 square feet of gardens
on our Holly Creek Farm and at homes of the teens, and 2,113 total training
hours, which includes classes, gardening, fieldtrips, catering and volunteering
at the Tabernacle Soup Kitchen and a local retirement home, bringing the
program’s cumulative total up to 15,125 since 2008. The teens also made several
donations of fresh produce from their garden on the farm to the soup kitchen.
One of the benefits of the FFTT program that’s hard to quantify is the impact
it has on the families of teens and in their neighborhoods. In addition to the
fresh produce they grow for their families, they often become the shoppers and
cooks in their homes, saving families money and improving their nutrition. The
home gardens sometimes prompt questions from neighbors, which allows the teens
to share their knowledge and experience, while inspiring other low-income
residents to grow their own food.
Another highlight of the year remembered at the dinner was
the Leadership Retreat, an event designed around a ropes course and outdoor adventure activities to build trust and teamwork within
the group and help individuals develop leadership skills, compassion and the
self-confidence they need to make good decisions, especially when faced with
peer pressure.
It’s great to see all these CEEDs taking root and bearing
fruit in the lives of the youth we are privileged to work with. Not only do
they become more self-sufficient and achieve greater food-security through the
programs, the business skills prepare them for employment or starting their own
businesses and, through our connection with Grow Appalachia, two of our youth
have been accepted into tuition-free degree programs at Berea College in
Kentucky.
The truly amazing thing about all of this is that’s it’s
been accomplished without a building or indoor plumbing. A tragic fire in 2009
devoured the programming and office space. Since then, every inch of usable
space – an old tobacco barn and some outbuildings – has been utilized for
programs and a small, two-room construction trailer was donated to house all
the staff. An outdoor composting toilette and a pit-style outhouse serves as
bathrooms and there are outdoor sinks in the milking shed, produce processing
station and Farm Day Camp area.
While the success of the FFTT program is a testament to the
determination of the staff to fill a need for the at-risk youth we work with and
give them the hope of a better future, we’ve become root-bound and are in need
of more – and more efficient – space. Construction began on a new building over
the summer, but we need more funds to complete it. Through a generous
opportunity from the Appalachian Regional Commission, we have an opportunity to
receive a $200,000 grant if we can raise $200,000 on our own. This would be
enough funds to complete the construction of the Farm & Food Learning
Center. The center will house classrooms, a commercial kitchen and office space
… with indoor plumbing!
Rural Resources Executive Director Sally Causey launched a
capital campaign this month to raise the $200,000 by Jamuary 31st.
“There is no doubt that this facility will be a game-changer
for hands-on learning opportunities for years to come,” says Causey.
Please consider being a part of connecting farms, food and
families through community education, programs to empower at-risk youth and
building a vibrant local-foods economy by donating to our capital campaign.
Donations can be made at generosity.com, on our website or by mailing a check
to our office at 2870 Holly Creek Rd, Greeneville, TN 37745. Have questions?
Visit our website, email us at info@ruralresources.net
or call our office at 423-636-8171.
OUR FARM AND FOOD
TEEN TRAINING PARTNERS: THANK YOU!!
Some of our Farm and Food Teen Training program kids had an opportunity to meet K–9 Odie from the Greene County Sheriff's Office this weekend! Odie and his human handler, Deputy Scottie Greene, presented a drug awareness program in our Rotary Pavilion.
The kids and staff learned about several drugs, their harmful effects and the legal consequences that can result from using them.
Odie and Deputy Greene also demonstrated some k-9 training and answered questions about drugs, police work and dog training.
Deputy Greene did most of the talking, sharing some stories of his police work with K-9 partners, while Odie gave kisses.
We would like to note that the event was provided at no cost to Rural Resources. Odie and Greene enjoy getting to know folks in their community and would be happy to visit your organization. They can be reached at the Greene County Sheriff's Office or via Facebook at Rio Odie.
A group of teens from the Rural Resources' Farm and Food Teen Training Program took a road trip to Southwest Virginia on April 1st to get a taste of farm to table living. Debbie Strickland, director of the program, arranged the trip to Harvest Table Farm and Restaurant so the youth could see a retail application of a local food system.
"I really want them to grasp the concept of farm to table," Strickland said, "not just to their own table but in a very nice restaurant."
Samantha Eubanks, Harvest Table's resident farmer, and intern Kai Conley took the group on a hands-on, educational tour of the farm. The teens learned about cover cropping, companion planting and poultry production, among other things. Along the way, they tasted radish flowers, young asparagus shoots and rhubarb.
Eubanks -- or farmer Sam, as she's known -- said the farm is designed to be sustainable.
"I studied permaculture in college and my major was agroecology," explained Eubanks. "So I tried to set up the farm in a way that sets up a self-sustaining ecosystem. That goes hand in hand with the principles of permaculture. One thing that I should really say, is that everything in permaculture should have three functions. When we make a decision on the farm, we think of three different reasons that something is going to help us. For example, the radishes. They are breaking up the soil by growing down into the soil, becoming large and then decomposing. They are also covering the soil so that it's not being washed away and they're providing flowers, which is food for the insects."
The farm provides between 40 and 80 percent of the Harvest Table restaurant's produce needs.
"They supplement a lot with local farmers," Eubanks said. "I'm constantly communicating with the chefs, telling them what we have, what's available. Then they're constantly talking to other farmers. ... Really the idea is that we're filling in what they don't have. We're growing a lot of lettuce, onions, kale, radishes, throughout the summer, things that people might have in the fall or spring but they don't have year round. We're trying to fill that gap."
From the farm, the group drove just over two miles to the restaurant and guild shop. They enjoyed farm-fresh creations beautifully prepared by Executive Chef Phillip Newton, Sous Chef Bradley Griffin, and Baker Mary Heath. Though the atmosphere is casual, the neo-Appalachian cuisine blends the concept of locally grown with fine dining flair.
The Meadowview Farmers' Guild adjacent to the restaurant was the last stop. Over 200 vendors participate in the guild, offering a wide variety of products that range from arts and crafts to food items.
For more information about Harvest Table Restaurant and Farm, visit the link below:
Rural Resources wrapped up this year's Farm & Food Teen Training Program with a delightful celebration in honor of all who participate and help make the program possible. Debbie Strickland, our farm & food teen training program coordinator, hosted the evening at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Greeneville on Dec. 3. Stickland introduced each of the program groups, which are Catastrophic Kitchen — Chicken Nuggets, Food Commanders, Silent Farmers and "THE" Group. Each team took turns giving speeches about what they have accomplished throughout the year. Strickland also announced that some students have applied for Berea College. Rural Resources wishes all the teens the best in their futures.
Strickland asked the Food Commanders to cater the dinner. Why?
Because they won a recent Teen Chopped event with their delicious chicken alfredo.
In addition to the pasta, teens prepared a salad with local greens and peach vinaigrette. The meal was served with a side of garlic bread. For dessert, there was a spiced applesauce cake. See the menu below for a list of local farms from which the food was sourced.
