This project seeks to address several intersecting short- and long-term community-identified needs, including:limited opportunities for socially disadvantaged african-american youth to participate…

This project seeks to address several intersecting short- and long-term community-identified needs, including:limited opportunities for socially disadvantaged african-american youth to participate in on-farm experiential learning and related off-farm activities related to agriculture, gardening, nutrition, and where food comes from; limited capacity of small-scale socially disadvantaged african-american farmers to host and provide on-farm educational experiences for youth; lack of culturally-centered agricultural educational materials that affirm the historical contributions of africans and african-americans to agriculture; limited access to fresh produce for youth and families in socially disadvantaged communities in both urban and rural settings, especially those grown by socially disadvantaged farmers; andchallenges in the pipeline of the farming workforce, particularly those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. This project will establish a mid-atlantic regional partnership infrastructure to link small-scale socially disadvantaged farmers with socially disadvantaged youth and their families through on-farm education related to agriculture, food, and nutrition. A secondary goal is to develop, pilot, and disseminate the africulture curriculum, a culturally centered stand-alone K-12 agricultural education curriculumthat will be made available for use by farmers, parents, and educators seeking to provide culturally centered agricultural education to supplement and enrich in-class, home-school, or farm-based instructional opportunities. The goals of the project are: 1) to enhanceawareness, knowledge, and skills in K-12 black youth around culturally-centered agricultural practices, food systems, and nutrition; and 2) to enhancecapacity for socially disadvantaged small-scale black farmers to host groups of black youth for on-farm experiential educational experiences. Ultimately, the project seeks to expand the benefits of farm-to-school programs to meet the needs of socially disadvantaged farmers and youth, thus beginning to address historical challenges related to health disparities, food apartheid, and disconnection from food and land.