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Food justice youth development: Using Photovoice to study urban school food systems
Local Environment (2017)
  • Krista Harper
  • Catherine Sands
  • Diego Angarita
  • Molly Totman
  • Monica Maitin
  • Jonell Sostre Rosado
  • Jazmin Colon
  • Nick Alger
Abstract
How do youth learn through participation in efforts to study and change the school food system? Through our participatory youth action research (YPAR) project, we move beyond the "youth as consumer" frame to a food justice youth development approach. We track how a group of youth learned about food and the public policy process through their efforts to transform their own school food systems by conducting a participatory evaluation of farm-to-school efforts in collaboration with university and community partners. We used the Photovoice research method, placing cameras in the hands of young people so that they themselves could document and discuss their concerns and perspectives. The research was designed to gain insight about youths’ knowledge of food, health, and community food systems. Drawing upon the youth group's insights, we build a framework for building critical consciousness through food justice youth development (FJYD).
Keywords
  • youth participatory action research (YPAR),
  • Photovoice,
  • food justice,
  • school meals,
  • youth activism,
  • food justice youth development,
  • youth development,
  • social justice youth development
Publication Date
Spring October, 2017
Publisher Statement
NOTE:
This article has been accepted for publication in Local Environment as of 6 December 2016--please do not cite without
permission. The Nuestras Raíces Photovoice project was collaboratively designed and carried out by the youth group and community food systems coordinator Diego Angarita from Nuestras Raíces, Fertile Ground Director and consultant Catherine Sands, undergraduate anthropology intern Molly Totman, and Professor Krista Harper of the Department of Anthropology and the School of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 
Citation Information
Krista Harper, Catherine Sands, Diego Angarita, Molly Totman, et al.. "Food justice youth development: Using Photovoice to study urban school food systems" Local Environment (2017)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/krista_harper/26/
Creative Commons license
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-NC International License.