Youth in Sudbury area learning an important life skill
From pruning plants to creating the perfect compost, a group of youths in Hanmer are getting first-hand experience at all things agricultural.
“So far I’ve learned many things,” said 16-year-old Noah Lachance. “I’ve learned how to compost, how to prune tomato plants for an example, how to identify different kinds of weeds and pests of bugs and things like that.”
It’s part of a new Youth Agricultural Mentors program (YAM) that is helping teach life skills to the next generation.
“High school aged youth are really waking up to the problems with pollution and climate change and it can make you feel really anxious and sometimes hopeful,” said youth program co-lead Kryslyn Mohan.
“But when we have the skills to grow our own food and food for our community, we can help to develop a more resilient community.”
YAM is the first of its kind this year after the program received $56,900 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2019. However, Sudbury Shared Harvest has been helping connect the community and nature for much longer.
“I started working here at Sudbury Shared Harvest when I was 16 years old and I had no idea what I wanted to do in the future,” said Kaelyn Charron. “I think being a part of something like this can help inspire other kids and students that don’t know necessarily what they want to go into in the future.”
Charron said she was surprised to learn that a job like this could be a career.
"I never thought that something like this could be possible and it taught me how to work with the community and really love the food that I’m eating and be more mindful about what I’m eating,” she said.
Officials said the program is about much more than just gardening.
“Day-to-day programming looks like an energizer or a team builder in the morning and then we might do a little bit of a stretch or a breath together, just to get grounded for our day,” said Mohan.
It also includes monthly webinars with the Sudbury Public Library and field trips to local gardens and farms so young people get to experience a variety of agriculture practices.
“It’s really fun and you learn a lot of things from all of it and it’s really worth it,” said Lachance.
Four weeks into the new program, officials said they're optimistic it will return next year with a new crop of students to grow their skills.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.