RIC’s mission is to empower young people to take leadership in their own communities. RIC is a diverse movement of youth and adults working together and committed to fostering healthy communities and food justice through urban and rural agriculture, community gardening, food security, and related environmental justice work. Two years ago, Team UNI hosted the conference in Philadelphia.  Similar to the Philadelphia RIC, this year’s RIC included bike rides to local urban farms, workdays and teen-run workshops.  UNI’s teens led “Real World Philadelphia: What to Do When Your Program Ends,” a workshop on how to actively promote change individually and with your community.  Conference participants commented on the UNI teens’ fervor and knowledge for community change through cooking, gardening and building.  The teens’ reflections on their workshop and the conference as a whole are included below.  

Breeaun Johnson

My trip to Portland, ME is something I will never forget.  We did things I never imagined I would do, i.e., camping and going to the ocean at 11 p.m.!  Maine was both fun and educational.  I’m ecstatic that I got to go with Ms. Kristin, Ty, and my co-workers who were chosen to go on the trip; they made the trip so much more fun and comfortable.  I felt like I was with family.

First, I have to share my experience camping!!  Honestly, I thought it would be much more complicated putting a tent up.  I pictured us hiking through the woods, rubbing sticks together for fire and washing in the lake.  Putting the tent up was a piece of cake; we lit our fire with matches, and they had showers!  We also made smores.  Note: they don’t taste as good as they look!

At the Rooted in Community Conference, I learned how to make ratatouille, somewhat garden and listen to other’s ideas.  We also fed the pigs, made a new pen for them, moved the goat pen and played soccer: all in the pouring rain!  At first we were all a little anti-social, and I so regret that!  The day before we left, we met and talked to a couple kids and shared how Philly was.  They were so surprised.  One kid asked me if I’ve ever seen a drive-by.  It was awesome to hear how kids in Maine lived.  At their high school, only 2% of the students are black and they barely go out with friends because everything is so far away. 

I wish the conference lasted a couple more days.  I enjoyed everyone I surrounded myself with at the conference.  Our workshop was stellar!  Everyone loved it, and I enjoyed myself!  I am very grateful for being a part of this trip. 

Demetrius Lyons 

In July, I went to my first Rooted in Community (R.I.C.) conference.  On the way there, everything was going well.  Going to R.I.C. was a good way to find out about my fellow gardeners.  It was a cool get together with crazy activities, including cool and long bike rides to different urban farms in Maine.

I liked the food at the conference.  I am a vegetarian, and I appreciated that we had a choice of food.  The same dishes had vegetarian and gluten free options. It was also pretty cool sleeping on a college campus.

At the workshops, I learned how to make things and learned life lessons.  One workshop that I attended was called Blunt Radio.  The people who taught the workshop are youth who run their own radio station.  In the workshop, we learned about radio interviews and then we practiced interviewing each other.  Maybe I should try and be on the radio in Philadelphia.  Lastly, I learned to be a better person and a better gardener who cares for what God has given us.  I’ve learned new ways on how people grow fruits, vegetables and also herbs.  It’s always good to meet new people, especially if they do things that are different.  I learned about the city of Portland and its style.  

Matthew Johnson

I can say getting to Portland was almost as fun as being in Portland. On the way there, we played a lot of games to keep us hyper, we sang and played around a little bit. We stopped and took breaks when ever we needed to.  We also ate at places I never heard of before.  It was fun trying new stuff because I liked everything we did up there; I even liked the camping part. The beach that we saw up in Maine was really nice even at night.

            Being in Portland was a little bit more fun, but that’s because we got to meet more people at the Rooted in Community conference. At first I wasn’t sure about meeting the people at R.I.C., but once I got to know them, stuff got a lot better. We joked around, we played games, we talked to one another about who we are and where we come from. I also had fun working with the people at R.I.C.; when it was time to work they all were on top of their game. I had fun biking, helping the garden out, cooking and swimming, oh and I liked all the projects people did. I also liked the dorm rooms we had to sleep in.

            Leaving Portland was hard and sad. I wished I could have stayed longer, but I went home with something I learned from R.I.C.: I can accomplish mostly everything by myself, but there are some things you can’t do alone. We all need help one day and some days we can’t get the help from our community. So because of R.I.C. we are all able to reach out and help one another even if we are in another state. We are a UNIted group that is national, and we all started from R.I.C.  It was fun being up in Portland, and I hope to return to R.I.C. next year. Thank you people of R.I.C. for letting me come.

Laquanda Dobson

            This year I was able to go to the Rooted in Community conference for the third time. It was in Portland, Maine. There are many things that I like about R.I.C., but I have my top three: meeting new people, being in a different setting and networking.

            When I went to R.I.C. this year, there were different people from the last R.I.C. It was all new people to meet all over again. I met some kids that were Somali. There were very cool kids. They were very funny and smart people. We talked about how they should come to Philly, how school was and what it was like living where we live. Meeting them taught me that just because someone looks a different way doesn’t mean I should keep from making friends with them. We should take time out to talk to people who look different from us.

Kenny Owens

            R.I.C. stands for Rooted in Community. A couple of the members from the Urban Nutrition Initiative and I went to Portland, Maine for the conference. The first day we came to Portland, Maine, we went camping and ate lobster. The second day, we walked around Portland, and then we went to the R.I.C. conference. While my crew and I were there, we went to a lot of workshops, met new people and made a lot of friends. What I take back from the conference is how to be a better leader and to step outside my box more to help my community.