CBS 2 Goes Green

Bronx Teens Learn, Teach About Organic Foods

BRONX (CBS) ― In one Bronx neighborhood, some local teenagers are giving the red light to fast food, and instead going green.

They're participating in a program that's using food to build stronger, healthier communities, while at the same time raising environmental awareness.

For six weeks every summer, the corner of 165th Street and Boston road in the Bronx becomes home to an organic market.

"This is all part of a program called 'Learn It, Grow It, Eat It,'" Lenny Librizzi, from Council on the Environment of NYC, said. "We work with youth in the Bronx here, high school students, to teach them about the environmental connections to food."

"We take them out to local community gardens where they get their hands dirty," Librizzi said. "They learn about how vegetables grow, they actually start growing them, and then the great part is we get to hire them in the summer and they see the fruits of their labor."

They hired 15 students from four Bronx high schools to grow organic fruits and vegetables. Once a week, they combine their produce with some from local farmers and sell it at their Youth Market.

"It's a beautiful experience," Shery Olivo, a Bronx International High School student involved in the program, said. "You get to plant it, you get to grow it, and you get to eat it – which is the fun part of it."

They share that fun with people in the neighborhood by preparing free samples and informative demonstrations.

"I'm learning, and I'm teaching too," Fanta Kanoute, another Bronx International student, said.

"I actually lean stuff I never knew before," Qiana Nicolau, a graduate of Bronx Regional High School, said. "I like the way the people feel amazed that they found out something new."

The long term goal is to have these teens continue teaching people in their communities about the link between personal health, healthy eating, and the environment.

Right now the Youth Market is only around during the summer, but there's a push to change that.

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