PROVIDENCE – The University of Rhode Island, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will offer five scholarships next year for youths from “food-desert” neighborhoods in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls to pursue degrees in sustainable agriculture and food systems, according to the Southside Community Land Trust.
“This is a great opportunity for young people in our state seeking a pathway to well-paying, green-economy jobs,” Margaret DeVos, the land trust’s executive director, said a statement. “It’s particularly good news for those who become interested in these careers through programs like ours in Providence and Pawtucket.”
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The Southside Community Land Trust hires and trains high school student from “food-desert” neighborhoods in urban areas of Rhode Island to develop their knowledge on sustainable agriculture and food and health equity.
A food desert is a neighborhood that has limited access to affordable nutritious food.
According to the news release, URI will award scholarships to five students, plus paid summer fellowships, other research projects and mentoring from industry leaders and academic counselors.
The students may enroll in undergraduate programs, including sustainable agriculture and food systems, animal science and technology, aquaculture and fisheries science, cell and molecular biology, environmental science and management, marine affairs, and plant sciences. Majoring (as a single or double major) or minoring in sustainable agriculture and food systems will be required of all recipients.
Eligible candidates have been – or will be – accepted for the fall 2020 undergraduate class, are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, have not been previously enrolled in a bachelor’s program in the agricultural or related sciences, and are from a group that is underrepresented in those sciences.
For more information about the scholarship, contact URI Assistant Professor of Agroecology John Taylor at 401-874-9027 or jr_taylor@uri.edu.
This past summer, the Southside Community Land Trust hired 24 youths from Pawtucket and Central Falls and 21 from Providence for part-time workforce-training jobs in food systems and sustainable agricultural. About 12 youths are hired for year-round positions based at two of the land trust’s urban farms. URI has partnered with this program for the past two years.
Earlier in November, the Southside Community Land Trust launched a $600,000 federally funded initiative to help beginning farmers access resources, tools and training.
The initiative, called Feed Rhode Island: Growing Sustainable Farms, is being funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program grant. It is designed to increase the number and success of limited-resource and socially disadvantaged beginning farmers in Rhode Island.
The program aims to help launch new growers on their own farms and allow urban farmers to scale up onto larger plots of land. The program is also intended to increase production and strengthen cooperative marketing.
