From School Farm to College Classrooms

When Pritom D. first joined the Teens for Food Justice program at DeWitt Clinton Educational Campus, he didn’t expect the experience to shape his future. His journey began the summer he applied to the Summer Youth Employment Program in 2022, when he saw TFFJ’s hydroponic farm listed as an available job placement opportunity. Curious, he decided to give it a try.

“I was interested in doing it” he recalls. That one decision led to years of learning and working in the farm—first after school, then every summer, and now as a college student majoring in horticulture at Lehman College.

Learning by Doing

At DeWitt Clinton, Pritom learned what it means to grow food indoors and how hydroponic systems can nourish both plants and people. He remembers being surprised by the precision and intricacies behind the process. “The water part was surprising,” he says. “In a regular garden, we use a bucket, but in a hydroponic system, we use the system’s water. It’s like engineering.”

He also helped with one of the farm’s biggest transitions. To create more room for classroom learning, the team disassembled part of an older growing system, reducing the physical footprint of the farm without reducing how much food it produces.“That was a huge project,” adds Renae Cairns, TFFJ’s Senior Program Manager, who worked alongside him that summer. “The students were instrumental in helping make that change possible, and we’ve continued growing just as much food since.”

Those hands-on opportunities gave Pritom confidence and skills that go beyond farming. “I learned presentation, communication, and teamwork,” he says. “We had to explain what we do to high school students who visited the farm—what the systems are, how we grow plants. That helped me a lot.”

“I learned presentation, communication, and teamwork,” he says. “We had to explain what we do to high school students who visited the farm—what the systems are, how we grow plants. That helped me a lot.”

“I learned presentation, communication, and teamwork,” he says. “We had to explain what we do to high school students who visited the farm—what the systems are, how we grow plants. That helped me a lot.”

Food, Access, and Community

Working in the farm also changed how Pritom thinks about food access. He remembers taking home cucumbers he helped grow and realizing that growing food means more than just planting seeds. “We were allowed to take it home. It was free access,” he says. “People connected to the school or the farm could have access to that food. It’s very nutritious, fresh, and we grew it ourselves.”

That experience helped him understand food systems in a new way and how local farming, even inside a school, can give communities better access to healthy food. “TFFJ helps people have access to free healthy food,” he says. “[That] helps our community and our school.”

Growing Skills, Growing Purpose

One of his favorite memories is the red cabbage project he presented to other interns. “It made me feel enthusiastic,” he says. “I worked so hard to grow it and write down how well it grew—how many plants did and didn’t grow. That was an awesome moment.”

“I worked so hard to grow it and write down how well it grew—how many plants did and didn’t grow. That was an awesome moment.”

Cooking on the farm also made a lasting impression. Pritom and his peers once prepared vegetarian rice using produce they had grown themselves. “It was really healthy and it was good,” he says. Those experiences helped him think more deeply about healthy eating and how shared meals can bring people together at school.

Continuing His Learning in Food and Horticulture

Now a sophomore in college, Pritom continues to build on the skills he learned at TFFJ. He’s interning at the New York Botanical Garden and taking a class called Bronx Food and Humanities, where he studies how food connects to culture and community.

“We go to the Botanical Garden and learn about horticulture and food,” he explains. “We see how people from different cultures work together to make a food community, and why trying new foods is important.”

When asked why he loves horticulture, Pritom doesn’t hesitate: “Planting helps our earth feel clean. It helps animals live. It makes our environment healthier and filled with nature.”

Why TFFJ

To other students considering joining TFFJ, his message is simple: “They should do it. It helps you learn about nature, the environment, and how [farming] helps people. It’s a good opportunity to learn how the hydroponic system works, and how you can make your community healthier.”

Through every seed planted and meal shared, Pritom continues to carry forward what he learned at TFFJ: that growing food is also a way of growing connection, purpose, and care for the world around us.❦

Pamela Honey is the Communications & Content Coordinator at Teens For Food Justice.