According to Ahndrea Blue, Founder/CEO of the Making A Difference Foundation, their Feeding Our Future program is a byproduct of her helping some local youth trying to enter the marijuana industry. Courtesy Photo.

By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium

As it nears its first anniversary this July, the Feeding Our Future program, an initiative of the Making A Difference Foundation in Tacoma, Washington, continues to empower disadvantaged and at-risk youth and young adults ages 16 to 25.

In addition to promoting the mental, physical, and social well-being of participants, the 20-week program introduces them to microgreen hydroponic farming, business development, leadership training, and entrepreneurship.

According to Ahndrea Blue, Founder/CEO of the Making A Difference Foundation, the program was a byproduct of her helping some local youth trying to enter the marijuana industry.

“I am also a lawyer, and I had some youth who ran into issues with the law with regards to growing marijuana,” said Blue. “They were growing for purpose, as they were actually providing income to their families and to defend against need. So, I came up with this program because I realized the same mechanisms they are using for marijuana can be transferred to something with higher profit and higher nutritional value, while helping to move their families to self-sufficiency.”

One of the most shocking things to Blue was learning that many of her youth participants were primary caregivers of themselves within their households.

“They are young, but they had adult issues,” said Blue. “Some had two to three generations living in their home, and their income mattered, and they needed it. They needed the money for either their house, siblings, or their families, and they just didn’t have the opportunity to be kids. They shouldn’t have these types of issues, but we work through these issues, and [as of today, seven of our participants] have received scholarships for college.”

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports that programs teaching urban farming, nutrition, and food preparation to teens and young adults leads to a 45% increase in vegetable intake and a 40% reduction in fast food consumption. Inspired by these findings, Blue was determined to equip our urban youth farmers with the tools to achieve the same.

“We wanted to teach our urban youth farmers how to farm and to prepare them to increase their vegetable intake, but also to reduce fast food consumption with them. More importantly, we also wanted to teach them how to become entrepreneurs because many of our kids were already entrepreneurs,” said Blue. “We realized that we could teach them to grow microgreens or other healthy, sustainable fruits and vegetables with less risk and higher profits.”

While Blue considers her greatest achievement as having the privilege to positively impact the lives of children who are not her own, she said that the youth in the program have also experienced meaningful accomplishments throughout their journey. Out of 27 total participants, 10 have agricultural businesses.

Fighting back tears, Blue shared an inspiring story about a pair of twin sisters that she works with who managed to build and run a successful business at the age of 18, despite losing both of their parents.

“They make like $10,000 a month, have found a way to get themselves graduated, their licenses, and their own apartments,” Blue said. “Their business is thriving. All of the youth are learning how strong they are, how smart they are, and how bright their futures are, and I am just so proud of them.”

For Blue, having one person who believes in you can make all the difference. Though these youth are not her biological children, her goal remains the same: to support them and see them succeed.

“You can turn a whole kid’s life around just by believing in them. They are not perfect, I am not perfect, but having someone to believe in them and understand that life is unfair can help them succeed,” said Blue. “And now, 100% of them are no longer food insecure.”