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Rising prices, and food safety scares are forcing us all to become more aware of where our food comes from and how it reaches our plate.

More and more people are taking matters into their own hands, and planting food in their backyards.

As part of our periodic series about the shifting economy called “This Economic Life”, WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports on a group of New London teens who are ahead of the curve.

They are part of FRESH New London, a project that aims to transform our food system.

The FRESH farm at Waterford Country School: Photo by Harriet Jones
Three years ago, 18 year old Jessica Cartagena didn’t know too much about the food she ate. Now, after three growing seasons with FRESH New London, she knows exactly where it comes from.

"We’re coming up to a path where there’s potatoes. Right here hasn’t been bedded yet, we’re going to plant flowers, wild flowers. Today we’ve been working more on the front of the farm, to the right – we’ve been transplanting some lettuce, some romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, basil and cilantro."

We’re at the Waterford Country School, just a few miles outside of downtown New London, where 15 teenagers are working diligently to bring food from the ground and then, learn to eat it too.

"You guys are going to learn how to go from seed to plate, you’re going all the way from the beginning of the plant’s life all the way to how you get it on the plate and how you make it taste good."

"When I came out here, it was not what I expected, I never seen a farm like this before. It was amazing, you know. And we had a lot of guest speakers talking about globalization, thinking outside the box, how the media affects us in every way. All that stuff that I learned, I was able to take back with me in school, and they’re like, woah, you’ve been learning a lot during the summer. I’m like, yeah, I’m learning about how to grow my own vegetables, and how to think differently."

And that tradition continues. After a morning transplanting lettuce, the FRESH recruits head for an outdoor classroom, where among the cilantro there is civics and social awareness.

The FRESH recruits in the classroom: Photo by Harriet Jones
"My name is Greg Pearson. I’m from an organization in Central Falls Rhode Island called Fuerza Laboral, in English, that means Power of Workers. What I want to start off with, I want to ask you guys a question. When you look at the Declaration of Independence, when you look at the Constitution, you hear this phrase, inalienable rights. What does that mean?"

"People that are citizens."

"OK, anyone else want to give it a shot?"

"You can’t separate us from our rights."

"Can’t separate us from our rights, exactly"

For many of these kids, FRESH starts off as a summer job – a way to earn some cash and spend some time outdoors. But for many it becomes much more, a stepping stone to a different life. Reynaldo Sierra is 14, and this is his first summer with FRESH,

"I’m hoping to grow up and be a man. They also teach you a lot of different things, they teach you manners, how to behave when there’s people around, lot of different things."

Although he admits, he’s having to get used to a whole new way of eating.

"Yes, like I don’t really eat vegetables, but now I’m getting used to eating them."

FRESH is on a mission to educate everyone about what we eat, and where it comes from.

FRESH founder Arthur Lerner at Fiddleheads: Photo by Harriet Jones
This is Fiddleheads, an emerging food cooperative in downtown New London that operates a farmers market two days a week. FRESH founder and director of operations Arthur Lerner is overseeing a stand here, selling produce from the FRESH garden. He says the youth crew he works with every day are setting an example for all of us.

"Youth who many people are decrying, oh, they’re hanging out on the streets and what are they doing, and there’s no future. To actually becoming with FRESH New London, agents of change. I mean these kids are out there creating a pathway towards local food, which is inaccessible for so many people. I mean this produce here oftentimes at these prices I can’t even afford, at these farmers’ market prices. We’re out there creating a market where people can afford it and learn about it, and the youth are the agents of that transformation – they’re actually bringing that to the community."

25 million US households grew vegetable gardens last year and that figure is forecast to rise by 10% in 2008. Lerner says he hopes the new awareness brought on by high gas prices and scares over salmonella will lead us all to ask new questions.

"What FRESH is talking about with the food system is part of a bigger issue about economic justice, about social justice, about ecological sustainability about stewardship. As Wendell Berry said, “eating is an agricultural act”, we’re all implied in agriculture. So we shouldn’t think of ourselves as well, I’m not a farmer so what do I have to do with it? We’re all consumers, we’re all eaters, and we can also be producers, which I think is part of what’s becoming more and more relevant today."

We’re reporting on how “This Economic Life” is changing for you…and we’d like you to tell us your story. Are you trying a new fuel source? Telecommuting? Carpooling? Are you putting off big plans? Or, are you getting involved in your community, and trying to make a change? Let us know with an email to wherewelive@wnpr.org.