The Mission

Root Down LA addresses the obesity challenge in South Los Angeles by engaging youth in experience-based learning about cooking, nutrition and healthy food systems. Students receive this education in addition to their school curriculum, then visit a local farm to put their knowledge into action. Our long term goal is to develop youth leaders who will have the skills to re-vision their school food community and create their own healthy food enterprises.

A Day in the Life

The following description is a snapshot view into a few days with Root Down LA, from the perspective of Project Co-Leader Megan Hanson...

We’ve just spent a whirlwind 48 hours with the first year Root Down students and they are INSPIRING! The excitement started yesterday in South Los Angeles at Manual Arts High School, where we got to take some precious class time to meet the kids who will be coming to McGrath Family Farms this year. As well, we began to cull out a smaller group of students who will work as our Youth Leaders.

Twice during the day, I pulled out my goofy, giant, hand-drawn mural depicting the food system changes in our country - the transition from whole foods to processed foods. The students were suspiciously kind, restraining from making fun of the stick chickens and cows.

The 10th graders were excited about the prospect of heading to a farm AND they agreed to come wearing ugly shoes and toting their own fork and spoon for lunch (we could tell these kids were savvy). When asked to tell a story from the stick chicken mural, the students threw out lots of terms they’d been exposed to - factory farms, hormones, organic, healthy. Those words were all on their radar screens, yet they had a lot of questions about what they meant. We’ll work on that this year!

The depth of the conversations that unfolded – in the classroom, during lunchtime, and in the after school meetings with potential Youth Leaders – was unbelievable. One student shared her experience of building a cottage industry pomegranate business before she moved to South LA. A flurry of ideas for other food businesses ensued. Several students bragged that they are the primary cooks in their families. One student felt compelled to tell us that he has been eating pretty much JUST cereal all his life; he’s nervous because several people in his family have diabetes. He’s coming back next month for a private lesson on making even the most seemingly hideous vegetables palatable.

Today, when the bus pulled up to McGrath Family Farms and the kids poured out, we were uncertain how they would react to the scene. Ducks waddling about, the hot sun blaring down, and farm workers washing giant bins of greens and piling pumpkins for the roadside stand sales. The kids didn’t skip a beat. They easily took up tasks moving pumpkins, picking red, purple and green tomatoes, and multi-colored beans. Four students even collaborated to cook an incredible lunch - a giant pot of chili and a gorgeous salad of beets, greens, and carrots - all from the farm.