Urban farm offers employment training for youth at risk in Sudbury

A community garden in Sudbury's Flour Mill neighbourhood is providing young people with an opportunity to gain employment experience.

Miranda MacLeod is the farm co-ordinator at the Flour Mill Community Farm, which is run by Sudbury's Social Planning Council.

MacLeod says they hire youth who are at risk and teach them how to garden — and then how to sell that produce.

"It's almost like an amped-up summer camp for youth," she said. "It's really fun."

This year, they are growing tomatoes, peas, beans, squash, zucchini, kale, lettuce, beets and radishes.

MacLeod says the produce is meant for the Ryan Heights community.

"Starting this week, we will have our first market where we are selling the vegetables that we grow for fairly inexpensive prices, just to give access in that community," she said.

MacLeod says the young people develop a variety of skills.

"They learn from start to finish how to plant a garden and grow vegetables," she said.

"We've taught them how to prep beds … and then we've seeded either by hand or … they've done some transplanting as well. They're keeping the beds weed-free and they're watering them."

She says it's inspiring to watch the youth learn about the food system and see how a garden progresses. She adds it's also been a nice escape for them during the pandemic.

"We are keeping our social distance," she said. "But it's really nice for them to bond with people their age when they've been isolated for so long."