The Food Literacy Project recently launched a mobile edible learning garden.
Truck Farm Louisville is a garden planted in the bed of a pickup truck. It will travel to Louisville area schools, where students will get their hands dirty learning about the origin of food.
"The Truck Farm will let us take our, what we call a field to fork program, out on the road and reach more children and families," said Carol Gundersen, executive director of the Food Literacy Project.
The traveling garden will support the organization's mission of helping the community build healthy relationships with food, farming and land, she said.
The teens, employed through the projects Youth Community Agriculture Program, planted the garden as their first project of the summer. YCAP is part of the Mayor's Summer Works Program.
Derrick Glass, 16, is a rising senior at Valley High School. He said he initially thought working on a farm would be too challenging, but he's been pleasantly surprised.
"This is actually perfect for me. What made me want to stay involved with it was the fact that we're outside, we get muddy, have fun and things like that. We get to learn more about plants and crops and how to take care of them," he said.
Glass said he ultimately plans to enter the military after graduating from high school, but this summer he's enjoying learning about different plants and experimenting with new foods and tastes.
"Most of the plants we've tried they're really good. It makes a difference because we learn the that things we put into our body and how it affects us and the changes that it makes on us when we eat healthy," Glass said.
Glass said the group is growing a variety of plants, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, green peppers, herbs and flowers. The group of teens will sell their vegetables at the weekly Bluegrass Avenue Farmer’s Market.
Gundersen said the Truck Farm will appear at numerous farmer's markets and festivals this summer.