The Food Project (Cat. '97) is a "Massachusetts original," founded in 1991 with a new idea: to involve inner-city and suburban youth together in organic farming, and distributing the fresh healthy, produce to inner-city food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and its own farmer's market — thus simultaneously imparting environmental, social, business, and philanthropic knowledge, skills, and values, to diverse youth who need them.

In 1993 TFP received one of 15 national Youth Conservation Corps awards, for its successful engagement of inner-city youth in environmental initiatives; in 1996 it won one of 13 U.S. Department of Agriculture awards for outstanding projects strengthening local food supplies. Their community-supported produce now serves 300 families per week, and earns $170,000 in revenue. Its leadership/management structure is highly collaborative, vested in a 5-person steering committee; youth are involved as both senior staff and trustees. They have also launched a national youth network of 200 teens from 20 youth gardening, food and agriculture programs.

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