North Baton Rouge students who are working with East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden’s Love Your Community initiative this summer were trained to grade tomatoes for market at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens on July 7. Photo by Johnny Morgan

LSU AgCenter gardening specialist Kiki Fontenot shows students who are part of East Baton Rouge Parish’s Love Your Community initiative how to grade tomatoes for market at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens on July 7. The initiative is sponsored though the mayor-president’s office. Photo by Johnny Morgan

Malaya Doucet, a freshman at St. Joseph’s Academy, left, along with 19 other north Baton Rouge students picked tomatoes at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens on July 7 as part of East Baton Rouge Parish Love Your Community initiative through the mayor-president’s office. The students also learned how to collect data for research, which included grading the tomatoes for market. Photo by Johnny Morgan

News Release Distributed 07/09/14

BATON ROUGE, La. – A group of north Baton Rouge students recently took advantage of an opportunity to pick their dinner at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden while getting paid in the process, thanks to East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden and the LSU AgCenter.

The students, who are participating in the Mayor’s Love Your Community Summer Youth Employment Program, are learning about marketing fresh vegetables, said LSU AgCenter gardening specialist Kiki Fontenot.

“We have been hosting these groups for the past two weeks,” Fontenot said. “Today, they are picking tomatoes, and they will help us collect data on them. They will also learn to grade them for market.”

Holden said the adolescent years are critical for engaging young people in activities that help develop skills and knowledge that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

“This program gives youth ages 14-17 the opportunity to earn income while completing work that benefits themselves, the environment and the community,” Holden said. “This experience will provide them with opportunities that set the foundation for future employment and academic success.”

Clint Berry, team coordinator for the group, said the program brings students from different parts of Baton Rouge together and exposes them to different outlets.

“It’s a good opportunity to get them off the street and allow them to network with each other and just show them how to love our community,” Berry said.

The Love Our Community initiative is in its second year. In addition to coming to the Botanic Gardens to learn how vegetables are marketed, they spent the first two weeks of the program painting murals around the city.

“We also show them how to paint on other objects, like T-shirts and tennis shoes,” Berry said. “So pretty much whatever they get their hands on becomes a canvas.”

The students are paid minimum wage for the four weeks, he said. At the end of the program, the 120 students are required to write a report detailing their experience.

Malaya Doucet, a freshman at St. Joseph’s Academy, said her mother signed her up for the program.

“We’re learning to paint and we’re learning about partnership, leadership and we’re getting lots of hands-on experience,” she said.

Fontenot said the group that came last week harvested peaches, and this group will harvest tomatoes and peppers.

“We appreciate the help they provide in helping with the harvest,” Fontenot said. “We don’t need the produce, but we do need the data. So they help us, and we give them what they pick, plus they gain the experience of learning how to grade out fruit and vegetables for the market.”

Once they finish collecting the data, the students will take the produce to LSU AgCenter instructor Judith Myhand in the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, where she will show them how to cook the produce.

Johnny Morgan