For the Love of Land and People: An Evaluation of The Food Project as an Empowering Youth Development Program

For the Love of Land and People uses youth experiences to examine The Food Project, a youth development and urban agriculture organization from the Greater Boston area. Both youth experience and program structures are viewed through the framework of Critical Youth Empowerment in order to analyze how youth experience empowerment and personal growth in The Food Project\u27s youth programs. This study finds that The Food Project youth programs demonstrate effective empowerment because they successfully create safe spaces, engage youth in work that is meaningful to them, and give youth the confidence and skills to effect change in their world