Photo: Youth protest for food justice and farm worker rights.

Silver City, July 23, 2014 - The Volunteer Center of Grant County (TVC) took four youth from Silver City and Bayard to the annual Rooted in Community (RIC) Summit held this year in Albuquerque July 16-20. RIC is a network of youth and adults from organizations across the United States working together to promote food justice through sustainable communities, rural and urban agriculture, food security, and racial, ethnic, economic, and social equity. During the summit, youth learned about media influence on food choices, the impact of access to healthy foods on rural and urban communities, farm worker rights, organic gardening techniques, growing and cooking culturally relevant foods and much more.

Highlights of the trip included a fieldtrip to the Jemez Pueblo to learn about their organic farming practices, a tour of the 300 year old Candelaria Farm and acequia in Albuquerque's South Valley, and learning to make posole at the Los Jardines Institute. Grant County youth who attended were Virginnia Burgess, Lucianna Castillo, Tina Galyan, and Abby Meyer. All four of these youth had previously participated in garden programming at the Commons Center for Food Security and Sustainability and wrote essays as a means of application for the summit. The trip to RIC was made possible by a grant from the Grant County Community Health Council which paid for a rental van and conference fees.

Photo (left to right): Tina Galyan; Lucianna Castillo; chaperone and TVC Garden Coordinator, Kristin Lundgren; Virginnia Burgess; and Abby Meyer

For more information about TVC, the Commons Center for Food Security and Sustainability, and food-related youth programming please call Becca Anderson at 388-2988, or visit the website www.tvcgrantcounty.org and TVC's Facebook page.