Northwest Youth Garden Network (NWYGN)

NWYGN’s Origin Story

In the fall of 2002, five agriculture youth (ages 14-21) empowerment organizations came together in Olympia, Washington to begin a conversation about youth leadership surrounding issues of hunger and poverty in the Northwest. Present were adults and youth from Garden-Raised Bounty (GRuB) from Olympia, Seattle Youth Garden Works, Guadalupe Gardens from Tacoma, and Growing Gardens and St. John’s Wood Garden Project (soon to be Food Works), both from Portland. Within the first hour of conversation, great potential lay in sharing our missions and resources. As the season and discussions progressed, we identified potential coalition goals and desired outcomes and activities.

During the first two years of our work together, our coalition planned to focus on four outcomes that will increase our capacity to work towards our greater goals. These outcomes originated from brainstorming and prioritization exercises from our first meeting.

• Increased effectiveness & sustainability of member organizations

• Increased leadership & self-esteem in participating youth

• Improved community visibility for individual coalition members and overall movement

• Strengthened ties between national movement and regional work

The group was initially called the Cascadia Youth Garden Coalition, then rebranded as the Northwest Youth Garden Network (NWYGN). Soon, Food for Lane County from Eugene and the Youth Garden Project from Corvallis joined. 

Representatives from each organization met regularly to discuss the work toward the outcomes and continued to learn from each other. Some groups also brought emerging youth leaders to the meetings.

The inaugural Rooted in Community (RIC) Youth Summit occurred in Oakland in 1998. RIC emerged because there were no agriculture conferences where youth felt included at the time. GRuB began sending staff and youth leaders to attend the following year. The idea of hosting the RIC Summit in the Pacific Northwest soon became the focus of the NWYGN meetings. The RIC team accepted NWYGN’s bid, and planning was underway to host in 2004. The central location where people stayed was at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, but on field trip day, groups traveled to Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle. 

NWYGN activity fizzled out over the next decade due to staff turnover, competing priorities, and programs closing. Relationships we built still connected organizations, and once or twice a year, youth groups from Seattle, Olympia, and Portland got together to visit each other’s farms or gardens, to work on the land, play, eat, and socialize.

The resurgence of NWYGN came in the winter of 2015 when staff at GRuB hosted a one-day gathering in Olympia. From as far north as Bellingham and as far south as Portland, organizational representatives convened for a day of connecting, and sharing stories, best practices, and good food. The goal was to repeat this annually in the winter, and ideally, different communities and organizations would take turns hosting. GRuB hosted again in 2016 and 2017, then Supa Fresh in Tigard, OR in 2018, and then Marion Polk Food Share in Salem, OR in 2019. We saw some organizations represented at multiple or all of these, and new groups showed up for one or two, representing more groups from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and even a traveler from Kansas City. The pandemic paused us in 2020, and due to restrictions we gathered virtually in 2021.

NWYGN returned as the umbrella for the annual gathering, but beyond planning for the event, regular meetings or group initiatives have yet to return. GRuB did bring the RIC Summit back to Olympia in 2016, in partnership with the Nisqually Tribe.

In 2023 NWYGN hosted a state-wide gathering at the Marion Polk Youth Farm in Salem.

We hope this network can continue to blossom, serving as a sustainable platform through peer support, fundraising, curriculum/resource sharing, and offering leadership and kinship opportunities for our youth.

Written by Wade Uyeda. Pulled from historical documents kept with GRuB.