Green Teen Community Gardening Program

The Green Teen program empowers urban youth to be effective community change-agents by immersing them in the local food system. This youth development program teaches life and work skills through hands-on experiences in farming and gardening, health and nutrition, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

During the school year, Green Teen holds local programs both during and after school where participants grow plants and vegetables in their classrooms, on farms, and in community gardens.

During the Spring Program we work with Beacon teens after school exploring various aspects of the food system. Green Teens work in our garden, take trips to local farms and each work on their own photography project. The photos are featured in a photography show in June each year.

During the Summer Program, Green Teen works with teens in Beacon to grow vegetables, learn culinary skills, and help one of our partnering farms, Common Ground, deliver produce within the Beacon community through our mobile market- Common Greens. At the end of the summer, the Green Teens work hard to produce a salsa from their own recipe, using local ingredients - many of which they grow themselves.

2011 Green Teen salsa is available!

Peach-a-Peño salsa is fresh out of the kitchen and for sale at these fine locations:

• CCEDC- Green Teen Program office, Beacon
• CCEDC main office at the Farm and Home Center, Millbrook
• Common Ground Farm, Wappingers Falls
• Poughkeepsie Farm Project/ Poughkeepsie Farmers Market, Poughkeepsie
• Fishkill Farms, Fishkill
• Sprout Creek Farm, LaGrange
• Montgomery Place Orchards, Red Hook
• Key Food, Beacon
• Homespun Foods, Beacon
• Beacon Natural Market, Beacon
• Mother Earth's Storehouse, Poughkeepsie
• Nature's Pantry, Fishkill
• Adams Fairacre Farms, Poughkeepsie
• Adams Fairace Farms, Wappingers
• Rhinebeck Health Foods, Rhinebeck
• Rossi and Son's Deli, Poughkeepsie
• Wild Hive, Clinton Corners

To learn more about this program, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Resource Educator for Green Teen Beacon.