Urban Roots

Deep Roots, Inspiring Leaders: Get to know Urban Roots

Youth interns are the heart of our work.

Our mission is to cultivate and empower youth through nature, healthy food, and community. We do this by providing paid internships to youth on the East Side of Saint Paul. Youth interns develop leadership, entrepreneurial, and life skills through our Market Garden, Conservation, and Cook Fresh Programs. Each year, up to 90 youth interns, ages 14-24, participate in our progressive, tiered programming, connecting to one another and the world around them.

Our Programs

Conservation Conservation youth interns support and improve green spaces around the East Side and participate in the restoration of local parks (spanning 83 acres) through removal of displaced plant species, native seed collection (from over 60 different species), and installation of native plants (3,683 native plants planted last year). Interns learn hands-on skills through the installation and maintenance of rain and pollinator gardens and also engage in citizen science projects, such as insect surveys, water sampling, and forest inventories.

Market Garden Youth in the Market Garden program participate in small-scale crop production at our urban gardens while engaging with our hands-on curriculum. Interns practice valuable job and life skills through growing food—becoming stewards of their environment and communities. The produce we grow goes to 1) the Cook Fresh program to be made into shared meals for interns across all three programs, 2) farmers markets including Mill City Farmers Market and the new East Side Farmers Market in St. Paul, and 3) East Saint Paul community hunger relief efforts (with nearly half of all produce grown in 2024 being donated).

Cook Fresh The Cook Fresh Program engages and instructs youth interns and the greater community in the skills, knowledge, and confidence to make healthy, culturally relevant, delicious, and affordable meals. Youth interns learn food preparation skills and explore career pathways and post-secondary education. Interns also engage in entrepreneurship, public speaking, hands-on lessons for the community, and social/environmental advocacy. Cook Fresh also provides space for youth interns to learn about food justice and equity while putting what they learned into practice on the East Side of Saint Paul.

2024 in Numbers

Sign Up For Our Emails