Discovering our Food System (DFS) is an interdisciplinary, community-based exploration of the people and processes that shape our food system. Rooted in the places we live, eat, work, learn, and play, DFS will help youth better understand what the food system means to them, how it affects their community and their health, and ways in which they can influence the food system.

This iteration is an extensive revision of the original, which was published in 2000. Our primary audience is educators who work with youth ages 12-18. However, it is a framework and approach that is adaptable to a wide range of ages and educational settings, including: *students and teachers in a school-based classroom setting *home school students and their parent-teachers *school and community gardens *educational farms and environmental education centers *nutrition education and wellness programs *community and service-oriented groups, such as 4-H, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, etc. *after school programs *anyone who is curious about food, and wants to explore the varied ways it gets from farm to table, and how to get more involved in their food system.

Youth Grow is a youth leadership project for high-school aged youth in New York State that provides them with the training and tools to become leaders in creating sustainable local food systems. Youth Grow is still being completed; follow our progress here: http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/get-activities/signature-projects/youth-grow/

The Cornell Garden-Based Learning program provides educators with inspiring, research-based gardening resources and professional development to support engaging, empowering, and relevant learning experiences for children, youth, adults, and communities. We are part of the Department of Horticulture and Cooperative Extension at Cornell University. More information about CGBL is available here: http://gardening.cce.cornell.edu