East New York Farms links several kinds of neighborhood work: a half-acre youth farm, a farmers market, food-scrap composting and help for community gardens. A feature published Oct. 4 by the East New York Times followed teenagers moving among those jobs, from tending garlic and watering crops to handling compost. Together, the work offers a close-up of how young people can take part in growing and sharing food where they live.
The farm’s parent organization, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, says the youth farm grows more than 70 varieties of culturally familiar foods. Its program also includes workshops, volunteer days and youth employment. The organization says its broader food-justice effort has been part of the community since 1998, while the specific youth farm opened in 2000.
The Saturday market is one connection between the farm and its neighbors. The organization says local gardeners, vendors and regional farmers bring produce that includes callaloo, bitter melon and long beans. It accepts SNAP/EBT and other food-assistance benefits as well as ordinary payment, and lists the market season as running from late June to mid-November. For interns, the market offers experience with more than growing: it brings food, customers and local sellers together in one place.
Composting extends that loop beyond the farm’s own beds. East New York Farms says its compost program has operated for more than 15 years, collecting neighborhood food scraps and processing them into compost for local farms and gardens. The organization also works with more than 60 community gardens in East New York, and says youth interns can assist eligible gardens with seasonal tasks.
The internship gives young people a route into that work. Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation says 15 to 25 youth take part each year, receiving a bi-weekly stipend and training in urban agriculture, community development, leadership and social justice. The program involves farm and market work, supports neighborhood gardens, and gives returning interns opportunities to take on leadership roles.
In the East New York Times feature, 16-year-old intern Heavenleiann Schuler was weeding a garlic bed. She told the newspaper she liked the task’s practical rhythm: she could see how keeping weeds away helped the plants. Schuler also described the farm as a way to make a wider range of foods available at a more affordable price in a neighborhood where she sees many fast-food choices. Her account grounds the larger program in a small, visible job.
The feature also follows Joshua John, 20, a senior intern focused on compost. He grew up near the farm but first recognized it as a working garden after a staff visit to his high school. He had spent four years in the program. John described becoming more comfortable interacting with other people through the work, and said the farm introduced him to ingredients he had not known, giving him a greater appreciation for them as someone who cooks.
His younger brother Matthew, 17, works with irrigation. The newspaper described him using a hose to water plants individually and reported that he had ridden a bicycle around Brooklyn neighborhoods collecting food scraps. Matthew reflected on the labor behind food, including the months of growing and care represented by a bag of garlic at a grocery store.
The farm does not claim that one growing space can solve every challenge around food access. Its stated approach is to pair local agriculture with youth employment, community development and food justice. The reported tasks are concrete: weed a crop, water it, turn scraps into compost, help a market operate. The program connects those tasks to a wider neighborhood network of growers and gardens.
East New York Farms’ model has grown over time, but it remains rooted in that mix of practical work and shared learning. The organization’s history reaches back to 1998, and its youth farm has operated since 2000. In the recent feature, Schuler’s focus was straightforward: keep the weeds away so garlic can flourish for the community. At East New York Farms, that small act sits inside a much larger cycle of growing, composting and bringing food to a local market.
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