Show Notes

Jahanvi, Noor, Manahil, and Luma from Youth in Food Systems talk to Bob Jonkman about the YFS program, the markets and the gardens, high school volunteer hours, how the program is set up, their plans for the future, learning to garden, educational aspects of gardening, agricultural careers, spreading their gardening knowledge, leadership paths in YFS, and they all offer advice to next year’s students coming into the program.

The interview starts at 4m27s.

Online:

• Website: https://youthinfoodsystems.ca
• Facebook: Youth in Food Systems (@youthinfoodsystems) | Facebook
• Instagram: Youth in Food Systems (@youthinfoodsystems) | Instagram
• YouTube: Youth in Food Systems (@youthinfoodsystems) | YouTube
• TikTok: Youth in Food Systems (@youthinfoodsystems) | TikTok
• E-mail: info@youthinfoodsystems.ca

Upcoming Events

The Youth Food Market will be taking place on Wednesday evenings at three locations, ending 26 August 2026!

Eastwood Collegiate Institute

4:00pm – 6:00pm
760 Weber Street West, Kitchener, Ontario

Victoria Hills Community Centre

4:00pm – 6:00pm
10 Chopin Drive, Kitchener, Ontario

Fiddlesticks Community Centre

3:00pm – 5:30pm
71 Cowan Boulevard, Cambridge, Ontario

Podcast

Download: ckms-community-connections-2026-08-17-episode268-youth-in-food-systems.mp3 (49 MB, 53m09s, episode 268)

Index

Time	Title	Album	Artist
0m00s	Theme for CKMS Community Connections ccc	CKMS Community Connections	Steve Todd
0m53s	Floaters	(single)	Lil Aitch
4m27s	The guests introduce themselves, and what Youth in Food Systems is. Luma lists the locations of the markets and the gardens, and tell us what they do there. Manahil, Jahanvi, and Noor tell us what they do at the markets and the gardens.
10m08s	Jahanvi, and Manahil tell us how they got involved. Partly it’s the compulsory 40 volunteer hours that high school students need, but that’s only the start.
12m40s	Luma is not a volunteer but a program assistant. She tells us how she got involved. She loves gardening, and wants to support the youth in the program. She tells us more about the program: 50 youth, six to seven in each garden, and seven to eight at the markets. There are four program assistants. Funding comes from some of the partner organizations listed on the YFS website. When the program ends Luma will continue going out the gardens. She’s flexible about entering a leadership career or an agricultural career.
16m40s	Noor, Manahil, and Jahanvi tell us about their plans for the future. Bob asks about getting their hands dirty in the garden, but they’re OK with that.
22m40s	Manahil tell us how she learned to garden. Luma tells us about the educational aspects of the program.
25m25s	Bob explores agricultural careers with Jahanvi, the effects of knowing where food comes from with Noor, the funnest thing that Manahil has learned from the program, and if Luma has been in the gardens and got her hands dirty.
31m22s	Bob asks if the gardeners have used their skills in places other than the YFS gardens. The YFS garden beds are at the schools where the gardeners go to school. They’ll join the school garden club to continue work in the gardens.
39m13s	Bob asks Luma if there is a path to leadership for the participants, she expects the current gardeners to come back as program leaders. Bob asks about the structure of YFS, it’s a small team, only in Waterloo Region. Seeds of Diversity is the main organization, YFS is a part of that. The need for volunteers continues after the program ends. Luma says pay attention to YFS Instagram page @youthinfoodsystems, also Cameron Heights Eco Club’s Instagram page: @chci_community.garden. Sign-up for next year’s program may begin as early as March. You can also join later in the year. Jahanvi tells us of Volunteer Waterloo Region, which also directs people to YFS. Applying to YFS is easier than applying for a job.
44m20s	Manahil is definitely coming back next year, Noor will do this until she graduates. Jahanvi is feeling the stress of applying for university, but will join again.
45m55s	The most valuable advice Noor offers is that students shouldn’t do this only for the volunteer hours. Manahil advises people to engage, read your e-mail. The most difficult thing Jahanvi learned is stepping out of her comfort zone. Noor says she’s an extrovert, that helps make people comfortable. Manahil says be yourself, don’t change your personality for others.
51m24s	Luma sums up the desiderata of YFS, and gives out contact info. Bob gives the end credits.

CKMS Community Connections airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Mondays.

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Bonus Video

Video: CKMS Community Connections for Monday 17 August 2026, 265 MB (Radio Waterloo video)

Show notes and podcast interview content is Copyright © 2026 by the participants, and released under a Creative Commons Attribution Only license. Copy, re-use, and derivative works are allowed with attribution to Radio Waterloo and a link to this page. Music selections are copyright by the respective rights holders. The theme music is written and performed by Steven Todd.