At Market
Get Involved!
  • If you are a culinary professional or food service employer: this program is actively seeking employment and internship opportunities for students and graduates of our program.
  • If you are a culinary professional or educator: we welcome instructors who can volunteer their time to teach a lesson or two on cooking, nutrition, or culinary skills to our students.

Please contact Ryan.

Partners in the RI Harvest Kitchen
  • RI Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), Division of Juvenile Correction
  • Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
  • Mathewson Street Church / Heads Up
  • Farm Fresh Rhode Island
With generous funding from The Rhode Island Foundation and the US Department of Justice Byrne JAG.
Chopping
Local 365 Initiative
Farm Fresh RI is rebuilding a year-round food system driven by the needs of Rhode Island farmers and eaters. Our Local 365 goals:
  • Expand local farm production
  • Increase efficiency of processing, distribution, sales
  • Increase number of outlets to buy/eat local foods.
  • Foster and support new class of businesses built around local foods.
How do we get to Local 365?
RI Harvest Kitchen Project

Youth Made • Local Farms • Job Skills • Good Food

Can applesauce create new opportunities for RI farmers and at-risk youth? From local orchards to a commercial kitchen in Providence to your dinnertable. From the juvenile justice system to employable jobs skills and experience. The Harvest Kitchen is part of Farm Fresh Rhode Island's initiative to increase the variety of value-added local farm products available, and part of the Farm Fresh mission to create a community-based food system.

Apple sauce jars

Cranberry Applesauce
A perfect mix of tart and sweet, with apples from the trees of Hill Orchards paired with Fresh Meadows cranberries and a splash of Aquidneck Honey.

16oz and 24oz: apples, cranberries, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon

Strawberry Applesauce
Sweet early summer strawberries from the fields of Schartner Farms in Exeter and apples from the trees of Hill Orchards in Johnston.

16oz and 24oz: apples, strawberries, lemon juice

Classic Applesauce
Perfectly ripe apples from the trees of Hill Orchards in Johnston and Barden Family Orchard in North Scituate. Simple is delicious!

16oz and 24oz: apples, lemon juice

Pickles

Dried Apple Slices
A mix of chewy and crispy, our dehydrated Hill Orchards apple slices make a naturally sweet and healthy snack!

3oz and 6oz: just apples

Where to Buy
Coming this Fall!
  • Peach Slices from Hill Orchards, Barden Family Orchard and Confreda Farms with a splash of Aquidneck Honey
  • Whole Tomatoes from Schartner Farms and Confreda Farms
  • Pickles with veggies from assorted local farms
Harvest Kitchen News & Updates
  • Session Four: Students started classes on March 7th with 9 trainees and 1 teacher's assistant from Session Three.
  • Session Three: 7 of 8 trainees successfully completed the program. 1 trainee was selected to return as teacher assistant for Session Four. 3 trainees helped sell applesauce at the Saturday Wintertime Farmers Market. 1 trainee helped out with Market Mobile sorting on Thursday mornings. All trainees were assisted in job searches. 1 trainee got a job as a security guard at a retail store in Warwick. 1 trainee got a job as a salesperson at a retail shop in Providence. 2 trainees are now finishing their senior year of high school.
  • Session Two: 7 out of 9 students completed the program. 3 graduates from are now interning at RISD Dining. 1 graduate is now working for Americorps YouthBuild in Providence. 2 graduates are enrolled in a GED program. 1 graduate now attends Mount Pleasant High School.
  • Session One: 5 out of 8 students completed the program. 1 graduate is now employed at a Providence restaurant. 1 graduate is now employed at a senior center kitchen in Providence. 1 graduate is now employed at a warehouse in Warwick. 1 student did not complete the program because they found a job mid-way through.

The Harvest Kitchen Project is a 15-week culinary and job-readiness training program for youth within the Division of Juvenile Corrections. The youth will create a line of high-quality preserved foods using ingredients sourced from local farmers at a certified kitchen in Providence. Our culinary training and education consists of:

Products made in the Harvest Kitchen will be sold at local stores, farmers markets and to wholesale customers via Farm Fresh RI's Market Mobile, targeting bulk quantities to area schools, hospitals and cafeterias. In the long-term, proceeds from sales will sustain the Harvest Kitchen program. We envision forging strong partnerships in the community that benefit farmers and provide healthy options for consumers, restaurants and institutional food service buyers.

The Harvest Kitchen staff also aims to foster good relationships with employers who provide employment/internship opportunities to our graduates to further their job readiness and employable job skills.

Chef Jen Stott and Ryan Reeves manage the culinary skills training program. Jen also teaches youth at Tides Family Services.