As the end of the year approaches, I am overwhelmed by Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s accomplishments. These achievements are a direct result of the collective efforts of so many people—individuals who share a vision of communities inspired by food and transformed by youth.

Some of our accomplishments have been easy. When you work in service of a mission – and in collaboration with others – it’s amazing to see what happens when it all comes together in such rewarding ways. Some of our accomplishments have been hard. When you work to create better systems – reflective of the communities you work alongside – the obstacles thrown in your way remind you how hard (yet necessary) it is to create a more equitable, just, and fair world for all. 

Here is a snapshot of the accomplishments I mentioned earlier:

Education:

  • We reached 4,517 students 
  • We hosted 435 participants for food-based workshops
  • 115 students from 39 schools attended Camp Grow
  • 204 Birmingham City Schools scholars attended 143 sessions of farm or culinary after school clubs
  • 527 lessons were delivered to students from 40 schools
  • 90 CNP leaders from across Jefferson County participated in culinary professional development workshops

Youth Pathways and Experiences:

  • We employed 11 high school interns and 3 college apprentices
  • 100% of graduating high school interns transitioned to full-time employment or higher education
  • 2 former apprentices hired as full-time JVTF staff; 25% of JVTF staff are all former Good School Food participants

Farm:

  • We distributed 24,458 pounds of food for free 
  • We grew 82,541 seedlings
  • We served over 80+ zip codes
  • 382 unique crop varieties were grown
  • 200 pounds of excess honey was produced by 6 hives
  • 100% of JVTF Teaching Farms are implementing low or no till practices

Community:

  • We engaged 37 Good Community Food Fellows – who worked with us all year long to learn how to grow, cook, and share food
  • In collaboration with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, we hosted 13 free and reduced-cost public workshops focusing on agriculture and culinary skills.
  • The Seedling Share program provided 29,111 free seedlings to 40+ gardens benefiting approximately 6,000 people in 26 zip codes.

Expansion:

As incredible as all of that is, we also secured $500,000 from the City of Birmingham and Birmingham City Schools to begin our expansion to the west side of Birmingham – installing hydroponics and aquaponics labs in 6 science classrooms and 2 greenhouses in all 8 schools of the Jackson-Olin High School feeder pattern. That’s 3,700 more scholars and scaling to 40% of our total goal of 20,000 young people. 

When asked about her success, Dolly Parton explained, “My desire to do things and know what’s out there has always been greater than my fear.” That is precisely the feeling I have when I think of our goal to reach all 20,000 scholars in the Birmingham City Schools system. Our expansion to the west side is just the beginning of what is possible and I trust that our desire to do what is good, what is just, what is equitable, and what is life-giving will outweigh any fear we have. 

May we look ahead to the uncertainty with the kind of fearlessness our children so desperately deserve from us. May we go after the things that seem impossible so that they can dream and believe in possibility. May we build the kind of world where young people thrive – not just survive. May we challenge one another so that we continue to grow – as people, as partners, as a community – so that we reflect the kind of action that is necessary for community change. May we invest in the work that matters – in the work that isn’t afraid to show up authentically and vulnerably – and in the work that is deeply meaningful.

It is a true gift to do this work each day. I am confident that this is our best work, and even in the face of its challenges, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to be part of it. As the year comes to a close, I have deep appreciation for this long-term, interconnected work. There are countless farming metaphors I could use right now, but simply put, the investment we collectively make will have a transformational impact for many years to come.

This work would not be possible without our community. If you are inspired to make an end-of-year investment in Jones Valley Teaching Farm, I got you right here: https://e.givesmart.com/events/FYo/

So very grateful for having the opportunity to share this work with you,
Amanda