Our Core

Newburgh, NY

Our Core is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving marginalized youth in Newburgh, New York, empowering them to uplift themselves and others through experiential and academic education. The organization's AgriCultural Education program emphasizes skills-based education over production, aiming to equip youth with the tools for food and land sovereignty.

Growing spaces cultivated by Our Core span across Newburgh, encompassing four small garden beds, a one-acre plot under development as a youth-led urban farm, four elementary school sites, and a plot at the Boys and Girls Club.

An apprentice at Our Core will engage in small-scale vegetable cultivation, along with occasional work involving fruit trees and bushes, flowers, mushrooms, and beekeeping. They will actively participate in food access and food justice initiatives, with opportunities for involvement in agriculture-related political advocacy. Additionally, apprentices may have the option to collaborate with Common Ground Farm at the Newburgh Farmers Market and the youth-led pop-up market at the Newburgh Public Library once a week.

The goal of AgriCultural Education at Our Core is to rebuild the relationship between people, their food, and the earth, recognizing that the disconnect between individuals and their food diminishes their understanding of the ecosystem. The urban agriculture internship program, developed in partnership with Land to Learn (formerly Hudson Valley Seed), aims to bridge this gap.

Students at Our Core specialize in one of three tracks. Those on the Growing track focus on planting, space requirements, composting, plant pests and diseases, and harvesting. Students on the Marketing track handle harvest, packaging, marketing, and selling produce to the public, as well as preparing food for donation to feeding programs. Education track students spend four days each week at school gardens and summer camps, teaching younger children the importance of gardening and essential growing skills.