The Kids Table: A Report Conceptualizing Youth Empowerment and Food Planning Methods Through the Case Study of the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition

There is an ageless saying directed towards youth (young adults aged 14-19) that continues to define and dictate their lives. Youth are our future. Yet, many governmental and planning institutions overlook the prospect of integrating the voices of youth, particularly of color, within decision-making processes that directly affect them and their communities. Youth should have the power to make key decisions around food security in their lived environments. In this thesis, I reveal the potential impacts youth of color can have when given adequate support and resources in the planning level - through the prospect of food system and planning.

Building on my former thesis, existing research, case studies, historical analyses and analyzing data from my client partner, the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition (MFFC), this thesis: 1. Delves into the history of youth rights and engagement in the United States; 2. Brings to the forefront the tools of food through the analysis of food planning and its empowering attributes in the community; 3. Shows the impact youth have had on their respective community foodscapes with a primary focus on Mattapan and the MFFC; 4. Builds a framework on the crossroads of food planning, youth empowerment and community decision making; and 5. Calls to action institutions of governance and higher education to not only involve youth of color within urban food system decision making models and designs, but to also support youth and food organizations aimed at improving the landscape and lived environments of their communities.

Ruoming Fang

Thesis Advisors: David Hsu, Cong Cong