Nourish Champions: Youth Food Leaders
In partnership with the YWCA Halifax and YWCA Youth Advisory Council, we developed and launched a new program, Youth Food Leaders. This program focused on equipping youth to be food leaders, by providing them with food skills, mentorship, equipment, and access to food through workshops and leadership opportunities.
This pilot included a smoothie lab with some basic nutrition education; a community garden workshop at Common Roots Urban Farm highlighting innovative ways of growing food; a recipe development session with two NSCC Culinary Arts graduates showcasing specific cooking skills and focused on building confidence and curiosity in the kitchen; and a food entrepreneurship workshop with fellow Nourish staff and entrepreneur, Jess Ross, who illustrated one of the many paths one can take to enter the professional food world.
Pictured: Mayank Ramchandani, Youth Food Leader and member of the of the YWCA Youth Advisory Council
Mayank Ramchandani, a youth food leader and member of the of the YWCA Youth Advisory Council, shared his experience participating in the pilot series:
“I chose to participate in the Youth Food Leaders program to deepen my understanding of food and nutrition on a personal level. [...] Throughout the series, I gained several practical skills and valuable knowledge that I will continue to use. I learned how to cut vegetables more efficiently and discovered new cooking techniques that I can apply in my daily life. Additionally, the program also further developed my interest in entrepreneurship within the community, which has sparked my interest in exploring ways to support and empower local food initiatives.”
For him, “one of the most memorable highlights was visiting the Common Roots Urban Garden. It was inspiring to learn about urban gardening and see firsthand how sustainable practices can be implemented in an urban setting.”
Another Youth Food Leader, Joy Choi, expressed that, for them, learning from recent culinary arts program graduates was the most interesting part of the series and learned during the entrepreneurship workshop that following a passion and career path may involve side paths along the way.
As Nourish strives to center youth voices and perspectives in its work, this series served as an opportunity in piloting co-designing processes and strategies and will continue to inform our programs moving forward. Throughout the series, this pilot engaged 13 youth between 16 and 24 and design processes included in-person and virtual discussion sessions and a Discord channel to allow for regular communication. The rich partnerships that were developed and/or strengthened during this series include the YWCA, the St. Andrews Community Centre, Common Roots Urban Farm BiHi, two chefs from the NSCC Culinary Arts program, Sara MacLean and Sekinah Alagbe, as well as Nourish staffer and local entrepreneur Jess Ross.
Pictured: Joy Choi, Youth Food Leader and member of the of the YWCA Youth Advisory Council
