US Senator Gillibrand meets with CITY Teen Leaders at Urban Farm site in Binghamton

“For three years running, we’ve used CDBG funds to offer our at-risk young people vital work opportunities, including in the green jobs of tomorrow,” said Mayor Ryan. 

“These federal dollars through the CDBG program will provide much-needed summer work for local youth and help the community enjoy local, fresh produce,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The partnership between the CITY’s summer youth employment program and the City of Binghamton is a model for how a community can come together to create jobs for our children while taking aggressive action to combat child obesity. By improving access to fresh produce to communities in Binghamton, we can give people the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives, save billions in health care costs, and create good-paying jobs.” 

This summer, the CITY Project, directed by Cornell Cooperative Extension Broome County, has partnered with VINES and the BUF Project to create an agricultural resource for Binghamton’s low-income communities by offering fresh local produce at affordable prices. The CITY Teen Leaders are learning how to use energy-efficient growing technologies such as hoop houses, recycling, greenhouses and organic composting systems.  The CITY Teen Leaders are applying what they learned through their recent participation in 4-H Career Explorations and the "Youth Grow:  Become a Leader in the Local Food Movement", a new statewide project that is training teens to become leaders in the movement for healthy food systems.  “Youth Grow” is a Cornell Garden-Based Learning project directed by Marcia Eames-Sheavly, Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell University.  

Throughout the summer and into the fall, the harvest from this urban farm will be used to fill Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) orders and provide nutritious fruits and vegetables to families in the surrounding neighborhood.  In addition, fresh, nutritious produce from the garden will be donated to the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW), a food bank operated by the Broome County Council of Churches.  Children, youth and families in the community will learn about the benefits of eating locally grown, fresh produce.  By helping educate the community about ways to use fresh produce, the CITY Teen Leaders will focus on ways to combat childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles among the families in the neighborhood of the garden.  By selling produce throughout the summer at the Binghamton Farmers' Market, the CITY Teens will gain practical job and entrepreneurial skills. 

The CITY Project is funded by the Children, Youth and Families At Risk (CYFAR) Program, and is supported by Smith Lever funds from National 4-H Headquarters, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The CITY Project gratefully acknowledges the support of a number of community partners and collaborators including Binghamton University Liberty Partnership Program; OASIS After School Program, Endicott; Broome County Youth Bureau; City of Binghamton Youth Bureau.  Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

For More Information: 

CITY Project http://media.cce.cornell.edu/hosts/city/ 

June P. Mead, jm62@cornell.edu, CITY Project Director, Department of Human Development, Cornell University 

Victoria Giarratano,vlg4@cornell.edu, CITY Project Community Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension-Broome County 

Kelly Mabee, ksm25@cornell.edu, CITY Project Community Coordinator, Cornell Cooperative Extension-Broome County