Tallahassee's Young People Take On Hunger at the 17th Youth Symposium on Food and Hunger
Dozens of children and young adults gathered at FAMU Developmental Research School for the Tallahassee Food Network's 17th annual symposium - a platform built so the city's youth can name the food problems they live with and help shape the answers.
Dozens of young people gathered at FAMU Developmental Research School in Tallahassee for the 17th annual Youth Symposium on Food and Hunger, hosted by the Tallahassee Food Network - an event built to give the city's children and young adults a direct say on food insecurity in their own neighborhoods.
This year's symposium carried the theme "Sankofa: Go Back and Get It." Participants shared experiences, voiced concerns and helped shape solutions, and the program ranged beyond food alone: young people also explored mental health and violence through a keynote speaker, art and interactive activities. Partners in the event included the Greater Frenchtown Revitalization Council, Citizens for a Sustainable Future and Earthjustice.
The Tallahassee Food Network is led by Dr. P. Qasimah Boston, who also co-directs Tallahassee Youth for Change. Seventeen consecutive years makes the symposium one of the city's longest-running youth-led efforts on hunger - a standing channel through which Tallahassee's youngest residents tell the adults who run food programs what is actually happening at their tables.
