Culture

Knowing that nutrition and physical activity can seriously affect the mood of young people, Will Carter, 35, launched the Shaky Spades farming project to re-energise troubled youth in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury region

Three years ago, Will Carter was a youth worker and learning support officer at an alternative Marrickville high school, working with young people coping with mental health issues, drug/alcohol addictions, homelessness, and the juvenile justice system. Through realising that certain students’ poor diet choices, (two-minute noodles, chips, lollies), and intake of excess sugar, fat and carbohydrates were impairing the ability to learn and stay focused, Will decided that something needed to change. After an initial effort involving a small garden bed at the Sydney high school, the Shaky Spades project was formed, encouraging Will to invest full-time in his idea.

Through a friend of Will’s mentioning New York’s Green Bronx Machine scheme, Carter discovered many other worldwide projects similar to Shaky Spades, (including the Katoomba Community Gardens and Blackheath Community Farm), realising that his dream could be a reality. The right exposure for Will’s idea resulted in project land being granted at Cana Farm, who undertake a similar program with inmates at Parklea Prison, granting participants carpentry and hospitality skills, as well as Certificate II’s in Horticulture and Agriculture. Shaky Spades are now active at Cana Farm, Richmond, and hope to be fully established in July, before Spring harvest season. Locally speaking, the Mountains Youth Services Team, and Platform Youth Services are also involved in the Shaky Spades project, for the means of allowing teens to partake in farm activities. Will’s current objective is to keep Shaky Spades’ workers motivated with the project. ’Getting hip with the farming vibe’. He is faithful his therapeutic project can instil more positivity into the difficult lives of young adults through the use of wholesome foods, teamwork and interaction with nature.

By Corin Shearston.