FoodWhat?! is a youth empowerment and food justice organization. Youth engage with land, food, and each other in ways that are grounded in love and justice. We provide space where youth define and cultivate their empowerment, liberation, wellbeing.
Santa Cruz County youth joined FoodWhat through our Spring Internship, Summer Job Training, Fall Project Management and second-year programs. Our programs operate using a graduated leadership, embodied learning model across the three seasons. At FoodWhat, youth use organic farming, nourishing food, and loving community as vehicles to strengthen their well-being, career readiness, and socio emotional health. 78 youth successfully completed the Spring Internship, 35 youth successfully completed the Summer Job, and 27 youth successfully completed the Fall Program. These youth experienced outcomes related to accessing healthy food, diet change,job training, personal empowerment, socio emotional support, and environmentalconnectedness.
After many years of dreaming and diligently searching, at the close of 2025, FoodWhat found and secured a 5.25-acre piece of land in the Pajaro Valley to create a permanent home for the organization - a place that will be a home and a resource for youth and community for decades and generations to come! FoodWhat calls this property Homebase.