Urban Roots - Year 3

Urban Roots' third year is underway. Look for us at the Austin Farmers' Market Downtown and at the Triangle starting late March 2010. And keep an eye out for special events, community lunches, and our Summer Farm Fest. We still have just a few remaining CSA spots available. Click HERE for more information and to sign up.

From Thursday, March 18th through Saturday, March 20th, Urban Roots will be participating in (and benefiting from) Home Slice Pizza's SXSW event, Music by the Slice! We are thrilled to be a part of Music by the Slice for a second year!

This three-day party hosts 35+ bands from all over the world. Home Slice needs Urban Roots volunteers to primarily help with set up, service, and clean up. All tips from the three-day event go to Urban Roots (over $2,400 last year!). Shifts are 3-4 hours, and everyone who participated last year told us it was a blast!

Our friends at Home Slice have told us that in their experience, it's ideal when volunteers can work 2 or 3 days, as it helps provide continuity to the system from day to day. So if you're itching to do more than one shift/day, feel free! Click HERE for more information and to sign up. Contact Leigh at lgaymon-jones@youthlaunch.org for more information.

One of the coolest things about working the party is the chance to see 35+ bands from all over the world. It's really fun.

YouthLaunch's Urban Roots is offering a 17-week CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program that will run from March to July 2010. We are offering 40 "shares" for people who want to support Urban Roots and receive a variety of fresh produce weekly from the farm. Shares will go fast, so reserve yours today!

Click HERE for more information and to sign up.

Urban Roots is in its third season of existence. We are now growing on 3.5 acres with thirty youth and countless volunteers. We grew over 21,000 pounds of produce last year and are looking to double that number this year. Forty percent of what we harvest is donated to local hunger relief efforts. Come participate in our work. Come Visit Us on the Farm.

Check out two videos done by Meals on Wheels and More and the Capitol Area Food Bank that highlight the Urban Roots' hunger relief work at our News page HERE

Bring a class to the farm

We love having groups come to visit us. Click HERE for information about bringing school groups to the farm.

Invite our youth leaders to come speak at your school

Our high-school age farm interns have worked for 5 months on our urban sustainable farm, learning about agriculture, community service, how to run farmers' markets, hunger in Central Texas, where food comes from, and how to work hard. They have led volunteers and middle school groups on the farm and have had opportunities to speak in front of different groups. Now we would like to bring our youth to middle schools to speak about their experience and what they've learned about themselves and about growing food. Email Mike to ask how this is possible.

Celebrating our Youth

The Urban Roots community (youth, volunteers, staff) grew over 20,000 lbs of produce in 2009 and we donated 8,700 to food pantries and shelters. Collectively, our youth worked 160 hours at hunger relief organizations including Caritas, Meals on Wheels and More, and the Capitol Area Food Bank. Together they spent 2,508 hours on the land planting, weeding, harvesting, and doing other farmwork and over 4,000 hours in the program total. And they spent about 10 hours each in kitchens learning to cook and making delicious healthy dishes for themselves and the community during Community Lunches and cooking classes.

To learn about applying to be a Farm Intern, click HERE

Celebrating our Volunteers

Volunteers are an integral part of Urban Roots. We couldn't handle the weekday harvests without our reliable crew of volunteers, which this year included our regular Tuesday and Thursday group, our Saturday volunteers who came out in the cool spring and spicy hot summer, and our corporate volunteers from a variety of businesses around Austin. And our program wouldn't be complete without chefs donating their time for cooking classes and Community Lunches, students leading workshops on farm worker rights, and professionals leading our money management workshop - just to name some. Thanks to everyone who helped out this year! In all sincerity - we couldn't have done it without you.

To learn about volunteering, click HERE

Celebrating our VISTAs

AmeriCorps VISTAs commit a year of their lives to serving others. Our two VISTA staff members - Carly and Shirene - are an invaluable part of our team and are truly committed to the program, the community, and the Urban Roots youth. Whether it's coordinating volunteers, organizing and tracking the distribution of food donations, leading healthy lunch or pico de gallo-making workshops for youth, or facilitating community discussions about food access in Austin - Shirene and Carly's contributions are of vital importance to Urban Roots.

To learn about applying to be a VISTA, click HERE

Urban Roots is still in need of many tools and other things. Click HERE to see the Urban Roots wishlist. Here are a few things of note: