By Kirsten Lee, Shannyn Lee, Monet Torbert and Gerald Williams

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Detroit Community Action Plan

• By Kirsten Lee, Shannyn Lee, Monet Torbert and
  Gerald Williams

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From Left to Right-Monet Torbert, Diana
Estrada-Alamo (Seattle Youth) Gerald Williams,
Kirsten Lee, Eitan Sussman, and Shannyn Lee

• After two years of discussion, deliberation, and
  debate, the Detroit Youth would like to propose
  the following projects as community outreach.

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Program 1

• When the Detroit Youth reviewed the issues
  discussed over the course of our meetings, we
  gravitated towards ideas that helped effect
  change within our local food system. We
  recognized that part of the problem is that
  fresh, locally grown food is not as well marketed
  or distributed as it should be.

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• Because of our mutual desire to improve our local
  food system, we would like to design a program
  that helps to increase access to locally grown,
  organic food for Detroiters in need. The program
  would empower youth by giving them leadership
  opportunities and a safe way to spend their time
  and empower the community by increasing its
  overall health. Youth in the program would help
  to distribute the healthy, organic food grown in
  local gardens through community dinners and help
  to spread the news about when and where to buy
  food from local gardens or farmers.

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• This program would partner with Youth Grown in
  Detroit to distribute food grown in the youth
  gardens. This program would encourage communities
  to use opportunities to buy food from the Youth
  Grown in Detroit gardens through creating
  community dinners for youth that showcase the
  organic food from gardens and through advertising
  when, where, and how to buy food from gardens.
  This helps to create a local food system, which
  increases Detroits sustainability.

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• This program would also provide organic,
  community dinners for youth to share. Inspired by
  FEEST put on by Seattle youth, we feel that we
  could do a similar thing here in Detroit. FEEST
  was very successful in Seattle, and we hope that
  by adapting their model to our needs, it would be
  just as successful in Detroit. This program
  would initially engage about 15 youthfive middle
  school students and ten high schoolwho would
  prepare these organic meals, using food donated
  by Youth Grown in Detroit. These dinners would
  encourage healthy eating, foster community, and
  empower youth by giving them a safe space to
  express themselves where they are surrounded by
  youth leaders.

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• Through partnering with Youth Grown in Detroit to
  distribute, cook, and market organic, locally
  grown food, this program would empower youth,
  increase Detroits sustainability by creating a
  local food system, and most importantly, increase
  access to healthy food for Detroiters in need. By
  accomplishing these goals, this program would
  help to change Detroit from a food desert to a
  community that grows and eats healthy, fresh and
  organic food.

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• This program helps to tackle some issues Detroit
  has with its food system, but it doesnt directly
  deal with health-related issues found in the
  Detroit Public School System. Because Detroit
  youth also gravitated to effecting change within
  DPS when reviewing the issues, we would also like
  to propose the Detroit Public School Youth
  Advisory Board.

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• The DPSYAB would help support physical education,
  healthy, organic food for school lunches, and
  nutrition and community health classes in Detroit
  Public Schools. The DPSYAB would initially engage
  about ten youth who would convene with the School
  Board and/or the Food Policy Council and give
  recommendations to politicians on what should and
  should not happen in Detroit Public Schools.
  Youth are the best people to make these
  recommendations because they actually experience
  the outcomes of the decisions.

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• The DPSYAB would make food and fitness in schools
  a priority to politicians, causing the health of
  a school to increase, causing the health of the
  community to increase, creating a healthier
  Detroit. The DPSYAB also would petition the
  unhealthy lunches, lack of physical education
  options and recess in some Detroit Public
  Schools. Through these actions, the DPSYAB would
  help to create a healthier environment for youth
  to attend school in.

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From Left to Right- Kirsten Lee, Diana
Estrada-Alamo (Seattle Youth), Shannyn Lee, Eitan
Sussman, and Gerald Williams Not Pictured-Monet
Torbert

• Through the aforementioned projects, the Detroit
  Youth would like to help to create a healthier
  Detroit that grows and eats organic food and
  encourages healthy lifestyles for youthboth in
  school and in the community.