Not yet an adults, but no longer children, teenagers often feel discounted during talks about healthy food. Young adults want a seat at the table and we need to make room for them. Their experiences within the school system, and the community at large, can provide insight and open a gateway toward change.

This week we will meet and chat with young adults who have overcome (and inspired!) their families and communities to create change in their areas. With fresh ideas, and unwavering commitment, organizations like Youth for Healthy Schools, Padres & Jóvenes Unidos, and Kids Rethink New Orleans, and the young adults who work there join us to discuss ways to incorporate teens in the food justice and educational justice movement.

Join @MomsRising, @YoutHealSchools, @PadresyJovenes, and @RethinkNOLA, as we chat about teens and food justice on April 3, 2015, 1pm Eastern.

Together, we can arm our youth for success! Spread the word and share on twitter by clicking below.

To join and follow the conversation on Twitter use the #FoodFri Hashtag in each tweet.

You can also follow the chat on Twubs.com/FoodFri. Twubs allows you to follow MomsRising’s registered hashtags by creating an account. Below I have noted the steps.

1. Create an account using an email or your Twitter account.
2. Enter the desired hashtag, #FoodFri, #WellnessWed or #EcoTipTue, in the search box found at the top of the page. Click Enter. A new page will open with the desired chat.
3. Find the “Join This Twub” button found on the right-hand side bar and join the group.
4. Adjust the speed of the conversation to your liking. Options are: Fast, Medium, Slow, Slower, or Slowest.
5. Introduce yourself and join the conversation, by entering your comment, tips, or questions in the “Tweet to #FoodFri as [YourName] box”
6. Or, respond to a specific tweet by hovering over the right-hand side of the individual’s tweet and selecting one of the icons.

More about our #FoodFri Featured Panelists:

Youth for Healthy Schools

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Youth for Healthy Schools (Y4HS) is a collaborative organizing network of 15 youth and parent organizations of color in 10 states leading a movement for school and community wellness. Y4HS builds youth power in organizing for healthy and fresh school meals and snacks, safe places to play and exercise, strong school food standards and wellness policies, school wellness centers, and for youth voice in school and community wellness policy – locally, regionally, and nationally. Youth for Healthy Schools is part of the Healthy Communities II Initiative coordinated by the Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Website: fcyo.org

Twitter: @YoutHealSchools

Facebook: facebook.com/TheFCYO

Chika Kondo, Kids Rethink New Orleans

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Chika Kondo is the youth food justice organizer for Kids Rethink New Orleans and the VEGGI Farmer's Cooperative. She has helped launch their pilot food justice collective- a multi-racial, multi-lingual youth cohort dedicated to studying their history, food sovereignty, and cooperative economics and applying their knowledge into managing farm plots, marketing, distribution and sales of culturally reflective food they grow.

Website: www.therethinkers.org

Twitter: @RethinkNOLA

Facebook: facebook.com/kidsrethink

Isaias Vasquez, Padres Y Jovenes Unidos in Denver

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Isaias Vasquez is a queer DREAMer whose organizing roots originate in the LGBTQ immigrant rights movement. A migrant from Zacatecas Mexico, born to a family of farmers Isaias believes in returning to his farming roots and increasing access to fresh foods. Currently a political science student at Metro State University of Denver and Healthy Communities Fellow at The Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing hosted at Padres & Jóvenes Unidos in Denver Colorado.

Website: padresunidos.org

Twitter: @PadresyJovenes

Facebook: facebook.com/padresjovenesunidos