Meet the Team Behind: Farms for City Kids

Farms for City Kids gives urban students the chance to learn, grow, and thrive through hands-on experiences at a working farm. By combining academics with outdoor education, the program builds confidence, teamwork, and a lifelong connection to nature. Learn more about their work here!

What do your programs entail? 

Farms For City Kids Foundation provides outdoor learning experiences where urban youth combine classroom studies with firsthand farming and sustainability experience. Students rotate tasks daily between the dairy barn, small animal barn, greenhouse‚ garden, cheese house, and dormitory. Along the way, students build leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. We also have an adventure learning program for alumni students, where they learn wilderness survival skills. Our programs encourage teamwork and respect, offering children values such as responsibility, self-confidence and the satisfaction of facing and overcoming challenges. 

Who participates in your program, and who leads it? 

We host over 750 students per year in various one-week residential programs on our farm. Our 1000 acre space serves as an outdoor classroom where inner-city kids from New York City, Boston, Vermont, and beyond are able to explore new dimensions of learning. Our staff is composed of educated professionals who seamlessly integrate math, social studies, and natural science into everyday farm activities. As the students become responsible for running the farm for the week, they learn about the food cycle from the earth to the table, and everything that goes into that process. 

Can you tell me about your farm? 

Spring Brook Farm is a traditional dairy farm located in Reading, Vermont. It spans more than 1,000 acres and is home to a wide array of livestock, including 42 milking cows and over 100 Jersey cows. The milk from our cows is used to produce our Spring Brook Farm Cheese, and we also have a sugar bush that produces maple we use in syrup and maple cream. The Farm is part of the Vermont Land Trust conservation program and has been providing programming at no cost to visiting schools for more than 25 years.

How can individuals get involved in your work? 

At Farms for City Kids, we’re investing in children and giving them access to life-changing opportunities. We rely on individual, corporate, and foundation donations to successfully benefit city children. With your support, we continue to expand students’ horizons and provide them with skills, lessons, and memories that will last a lifetime. You can also shop our Maple Syrup and Maple Cream online, the proceeds of which fund our programming.