PHOTO: Windy City Harvest Youth Farm student with pepper.

Windy City Harvest teens get star turns

“Lights, camera…veggies!” In fall 2014, farmers at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest Youth Farm had an amazing opportunity.

PHOTO: Kids from Dyett High School Windy City Youth Farm 2015.
Kids from Windy City Youth Farm 2015 have fun washing vegetables to sell in their farm stand.

Filmmakers from New York came to Washington Park to meet the teens and record their experiences on the farm for a new documentary that seeks to uncover how we as a nation can make an impact on childhood obesity through creative education and empowerment.

The resulting film, The Kids Menu, will be shown at 6:45 p.m. on March 8 at Century Centre Cinema, 2828 North Clark Street, Chicago. The showing will be followed by a question-and-answer session with filmmaker Joe Cross. Get your tickets here.

The Windy City Harvest teens worked side-by-side with the producer, director, and cameraman to capture moving footage of their work at the farm and how plants have positively impacted their lives. One teen wrote the following:

A letter from a fan.

And tell about it they do in this film. The Windy City Harvest farmers tell just some of the inspirational stories about how kids are choosing a healthier path in The Kids Menu, which is from the same team behind Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. You’ve heard what’s not working when it comes to nourishing a healthier, happier next generation—now, it’s time to find out what does work.

Click here to view the trailer on YouTube.

The Reboot team selected Chicago as one of its exclusive screening locations. So come see Windy City Harvest in The Kids Menu at 6:45 p.m. March 8 at Century Centre Cinema.


©2016 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org

Published by

Eliza Fournier

Eliza Fournier, manager of school and community gardening, has served in the school and community gardening department at the Chicago Botanic Garden for eight years. In that time, she has helped more than 200 communities and schools plan and implement gardens in their neighborhoods. She currently manages the Green Youth Farm program, teaching teenagers how to grow organic produce on three urban farms.

2 thoughts on “Windy City Harvest teens get star turns”

  1. So proud of this work and the connections good people in Chicago have made to grow whole food and whole youth in this incredibly diverse and GREEN city! I know Eliza is proud of all the students who have contributed to this work.

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