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

Chicago Botanic Garden and University of Chicago partner in bid for Obama library

All the possibilities for the Obama Library plus our Windy City Harvest Youth Farm are featured in the Chicago Tribune today! Read about it in Community groups pin hopes on Obama library (PDF).

PHOTO: Windy City Harvest Youth Farm teen waters in the garden.
( Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune / July 16, 2014 )
Oluwapelumi Ajayi, 15, waters vegetable beds at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s urban farm in Washington Park last month. Sophia Shaw, the botanic garden’s CEO, hopes the Obama presidential library will settle on the South Side and include a garden.

Click here to download a PDF of this article.


dglanton@tribune.com
Copyright © 2014 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC