Radiance Gardens

Through hands-on gardening, cooking, and storytelling, youth grades 3rd-12th explore Black/African American, Afro-Caribbean, African, Latinx/Chicanx/Hispanic, and Indigenous foodways learning how culture, history, and traditions all come together.

Students learn to grow their own food. Cook nutritious, culturally relevant meals that honor their heritage. Take action for food justice and community change. Understand how food connects to land, health, and identity. Build confidence, leadership, and teamwork through creative expression and service projects.

Helping food-insecure communities in Connecticut grow culturally relevant food rooted in the traditions of Black/African American, Afro-Caribbean, African, Latinx/Chicanx/Hispanic, and Indigenous foodways.

Through hands-on workshops and seasonal gatherings, gardeners learn to grow culturally relevant crops like collards, okra, callaloo, peppers, beans, and medicinal herbs. Exchange recipes, stories, and traditions that honor their cultural roots. Harvest and cook together. Build community bonding through shared stewardship and care for the land.

We know that growing food is only part of the solution. Changing the systems that shape our food access is just as important. Empowering communities to understand, influence, and transform the policies that affect how and what we eat.

We engage community leaders to raise their voices in shaping equitable food systems.

Participants learn to understand how local, state, and federal food policies impact our communities. Advocate for programs that support food sovereignty and culturally relevant foods. Build coalitions that strengthen community-led solutions to food insecurity. Support initiatives that promote land access, urban agriculture, and local farming. Influence institutions like schools, municipalities, and markets to source from BIPOC growers.

Helping food-insecure communities in Connecticut eat culturally relevant food rooted in the traditions of Black/African American, Afro-Caribbean, African, Latinx/Chicanx/Hispanic, and Indigenous foodways.

Though interactive cooking demonstrations, participants will learn to eat healthier with simple, affordable, and culturally relevant recipes. Shop local and stretch your food dollars with confidence. Grow and cook your own food using accessible, garden-to-table techniques. Get active through community gardening and wellness activities. Build community through shared learning, story exchange, and cultural celebration.