South Paris resident Rocky Crockett is beginning his second year as Summer Youth Leadership Program co-coordinator for the Alan Day Community Garden at 26 Whitman St. in Norway. The garden provides land and tools to people who want to grow their own food. It also hosts groups, events, programs, classes and workshops. The garden’s Summer Youth Leadership Program is in its second year and is open to kids 14 and older. Kids first give 20 hours of service to the garden and then may then apply to participate in the eight week Leader-in-Training program, which offers leadership skill building, global and local food system education, instruction on growing organic food and preparing healthy meals.

Q: Where were you born and raised?

A: I was born at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway. We lived on our family farm in Sumner at the time, and then moved to Bolsters Mills village in Otisfield when I was young.

Q: Did you attend college?

A: I received a B.A. in comparative religious studies from St. Lawrence University … in Canton in northern New York. My focus was mainly on Christian and Hindu monastic life and mysticism and psychology of religion. I spent some time living in ashrams with sadhus in India. Sadhus are men who give up their worldly attachments and devote their lives to prayer and meditation. I had several excellent professors at St. Lawrence, it was a good time to be there. I graduated in 2000.

Q: What brought you out to that university?

A: I went to St. Lawrence because they had a good Nordic skiing program.

Q: What brought you back to this area?

A: I moved back here about five years ago to work at the community garden and be closer to my family.

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?

A: I enjoy building, welding, reading, trying to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle and skiing. Right now I am building a greenhouse for aquaponic (a combination of fish and plant production using aquaculture and hydroponics systems) food. I plan to be in production almost year-round, growing salad greens and mercury-free fish.

Q: Is anyone else doing anything like this in the area?

A: There’s one big operation, I think it’s in Falmouth, called Fluid Farms. They started out on a pretty big scale and somebody just donated a huge, glass greenhouse, so I think they’re going to have a pretty big operation.

Q: Do you plan to stay small?

A: I don’t have plans to make it a huge thing. I just want to sell locally. We’ll see. If it’s wildly successful I would expand.

Q: How did you develop an interest in food equity issues?

A: In college, I studied about the introduction to (genetically modified organism) crops by Monsanto into India. In the ’80s, the (International Monetary Fund) offered loans to Indian farmers to purchase GMO seeds and the necessary pesticides to grow the crops, with the lure that they would have bigger yields. The crops often failed, the farmers poisoned their lands with pesticides, and the crops are engineered to not produce seed, so the farmer had to buy more each year. The result was deeper debt, and thousands of farmer suicides. India was being used as a testing ground for GMO crops, and it was a failed experiment. Vandana Shiva has written and lectured extensively about these issues. Naomi Klein also touches on these and similar scenarios in her book “Shock Doctrine-the Rise of Disaster Capitalism.”

Q: After college, is this the first position you’ve held that’s related to that interest?

A: I worked as a farm manager at Longacre Leadership Program in Pennsylvania. That was mostly a hay farm, but we were also growing an organic garden with the kids to feed the summer camp.

Q: What else have you done for work?

A: Resident cook for a college semester abroad program. That was at St. Lawrence after I graduated. Library staff at St. Lawrence after I graduated …  and I’ve also worked for a few social service organizations, mainly with kids with Asperger’s, behavioral management and anger/violence issues.

Q: The website mentions that participants in the Youth Leadership Program help with other programs such as Summer Meals. Does this position allow you or participants to partner with other organizations, such as Healthy Oxford Hills?

A: Yes, HOH has been a great partner over the years, and we partner with other organizations as well.

Q: How do you think the youth change or grow upon completion of the program?

A: There’s a big focus on communication skills. We have regular meetings where we offer each other feedback the work that we’re doing. Everyone has an opportunity to speak to one another, share what’s going on with them. I think that’s the biggest change I’ve seen — their ability to feel comfortable communicating effectively with each other, making eye contact, listening, not interrupting, sharing what’s meaningful and useful and being able to offer useful criticism to one another…  to actually address issues as they come up. So, the communication piece, the comfort around that, and then the pride that they take. At the beginning of the season, we give them tours of the garden and by the end of the summer, they would be giving a tour, saying we built this and we did this — just seeing how really proud they were of what they accomplished.

Q: What do you feel is this program’s most tangible impact here in the Oxford Hills area?

A: Food-insecurity is a major challenge here and worldwide. Teaching youth how to grow food organically is a clear part of the solution. Our program also teaches communication skills, promotes healthy choices, provides community service opportunities. We help youth understand how the food system works and the importance of supporting local farms — not just for the sake of the farms, but our whole economy and environment. Our most tangible impact is not the number of pounds of food we grow, but the number of children and families that benefit from our many services. The community garden is a place for everyone to feel welcome and everyone to benefit.

Q: What aspects of this position do you feel are a good fit for your personality?

A: I need variety in a job to keep from becoming a robot. Coordinating the community garden offers a good mix of mental and physical exercise. One day I am writing a grant application, the next day I am doing carpentry, cooking with kids, distributing food or planting a row.

Q: What do you feel are some of your challenges?

The finances of nonprofits are often unstable, and our programs and services depend on grants and personal donations. We have had amazing community support, from organizations and individuals. Last year, rotary bought and installed a new roof on the barn, and funded and built a beautiful tool shed. We never know, year to year, what the budget will look like, but so far we are steadily growing. Here is a big “thank you” to all of our many supporters over the years.

Q: What do you see as next steps in your career?

A: I plan to have my aquaponic system up and running by next winter, so that I can provide fresh, local salads to our community during the colder months. It will be mostly automated once it’s all set up, but until then it will take up most of my time when I am not at the community garden.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share, about yourself or the Summer Youth Leadership Program?

A: We encourage youth to apply early to the leadership program as we do have limited positions. Anyone can feel free to call me at 346-0708, or e-mail me at [email protected].