Feeding More Than Hunger

CASSIAN LETHE, SNAP-ED, AND THE STRUGGLE TO KEEP COMMUNITY CARE ALIVE

Receiving SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits is one thing. Knowing how to use those resources most beneficially is another. The role of SNAP-Ed, a federally funded grant program, is to bridge that gap and help people make their SNAP dollars stretch, teach them how to cook healthy meals, and lead physically active lifestyles. In Michigan, SNAP-Ed programs are run through the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF) and are present in all counties throughout the state. This program channels valuable resources into local organizations that aim to make a positive impact on the health of their communities, particularly in low-income areas.

Cassian Lethe is the food navigator at Growing Hope and runs the SNAP-Ed program. Each Saturday, Cassian goes to the Ypsilanti Farmers Market (which is run by Growing Hope). It distributes flyers containing information on resources for low-income community members, educates people on how to enroll in SNAP and how their benefits work, and prepares a recipe of the week, along with free samples to hand out. She describes the SNAP-Ed program as “a springboard for people’s agency,” a way for individuals to have their basic needs met, which then gives them the freedom and time to learn new things about food preparation and even grow their own food.

Cassian is passionate about helping people access food assistance because she grew up in a food-insecure household that did not access any benefits. She grew up in rural Texas, where she describes it as being very taboo to receive benefits. “You either don’t receive them or you do get them and you lie,” because of a perception that “if you need assistance, you are a burden.” Kids with reduced school lunches would be bullied, and cashiers at stores would harass people when they would pull out an EBT card and take much longer to serve them and check them out.

Because her family was food insecure but refused to receive benefits, Cassian began farming in her early teens as a way to help support her family. She raised cattle to sell at market, showed and sold chickens at 4H, and started researching permaculture, square foot gardening, and anything else that would make things easier for the family–and that would also work around her school schedule, since she was still only 15 when she began completely managing the farm.

At the time, she felt proud of what she had accomplished on the farm and of providing for the rest of her family. Still, she also started struggling with a myriad of health problems, including severe anxiety. At the time, she didn’t connect this to the fact that she was working basically from 6 am to 10 pm every day, and that all of her responsibilities were very high-stakes: if she didn’t provide lunch for her younger brother to bring to school, then he wouldn’t eat; if she burnt dinner, there wouldn’t be dinner; if she weren’t able to bring in enough money, her family wouldn’t have money for basic necessities.

Cassian is passionate about connecting people, through SNAP-Ed, to resources for basic necessities, so they have the time and resources to experiment with new foods and recipes. One of the things she has noticed about the SNAP recipients who take samples from her at the farmers market is that they frequently ask, “Are you sure they’re free?” Cassian emphasizes to program participants that the samples are free in multiple ways: the samples don’t cost any money, but they’re also free in the sense that people haven’t lost out on anything if they don’t like the sample. They didn’t waste money, waste food, put out their family, or any of the other things people experiencing food insecurity often worry about.

Fortunately, most people do like Cassian’s samples! They almost always run out, and many community members return week after week to try the next thing she has prepared. The recipes focus on ways to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into cooking, with a special emphasis on items people may not be familiar with, such as using beets to make “pink pancakes.” Food-insecure people with children often wouldn’t be able to risk making new foods like this at home; if the child doesn’t like it, then it would be a waste of food. But with the free samples, there’s no risk, and Cassian can immediately see the relief on parents’ faces when the kids seem happy with the sample. The parents then have the ability to take a recipe card with them and feel confident that if they cook this new recipe at home, their family will enjoy it. Through the free samples and accompanying recipe cards, community members can try new foods, gain knowledge about food, and take that knowledge home in an actionable form.

However, the members of the community Cassian serves as the SNAP-Ed coordinator at the Ypsilanti Farmers Market are worried about their future and often ask Cassian if she will have to stop coming to the market because of federal SNAP cuts. They are aware that the federal government's cuts to SNAP and other aid programs will affect them, but no one is yet certain how. Cassian’s worst fear is having to turn people away, because she knows what it’s like to feel like if you try to reach out for help, there won’t be anything there. SNAP-Ed is part of the something that she needed growing up, and she values being able to be that something for other members of her community.

Regardless of the federal cuts, Growing Hope will continue to do at least some of its food access work. Cassian explained that Growing Hope is like a field of various produce, where if there is a drought, some things will make it through, but not everything. She shared that every time a support system fails, it is the people who are most vulnerable who are hurt the most, and that Growing Hope can’t, on its own, save everyone, even though it would like to. She wants community members to feel safe and secure in the knowledge that they won’t be turned away, but due to the federal cuts, she is unsure if she’ll be able to provide that security anymore.

Cassian repeatedly emphasized how SNAP-Ed, SNAP, and other benefits programs work together to make the community as a whole healthier, and how the government’s recent cuts are relevant to us all:

“We’re not just individual points on a map, we’re pins stuck in a corkboard, which are all tied together. [Cutting benefits] will put strain on everyone, even if they don’t think that includes them. You’re going to be experiencing tension. Even if you feel like you’re not in any way tied to these government programs, you still need to go through the effort of advocating for those who do. Even in small ways.”

This post is part of a series by Emma Rose Hardy, a PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan and the Rackham Local Food Systems Intern at Growing Hope. The series aims to highlight the essential role that SNAP and other food assistance programs play in the Washtenaw County local food system.

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Power of Farm to School

By Julius Buzzard • October 1, 2026

Beloved community, Autumn is, by far, my favorite season. Cooler days signal that it’s time to start buttoning up the farm as youth across our community settle into the rhythm of a new school year. This seasonal shift, the renewed rhythm, gives us the opportunity to reflect on our harvest while we simultaneously look forward to what’s next. And as we shift season, we get to celebrate National Farm to School Month! At Growing Hope, we celebrate, remember, and continue moving through each youth and school we intersect with because we believe it is instrumental in building a foundation of generational health on which our food system can grow. Farm to school impacts all of us. Every one of us is either in school, has been in school, or has someone close to us with a school experience. And for many of us, school is where our earliest beliefs about food took root. As a child, I relied on the school system for the majority of my meals. From a young age, I didn't know much about autonomy in what I ate. I knew the food pyramid, but not how the food served to me fit into it. In the end, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that it kept me from going hungry. This system built a foundation for how I thought about the food system, which included conflicting feelings of gratitude, shame, and survival. This is the experience of many youth in our community, and it's a big part of what drew me to Growing Hope. Our children deserve the absolute best we can afford them, not whatever is subsidized for the companies that can afford to send lobbyists to Washington. Whether it’s what counts as real food, who gets to eat well, or where food comes from. These are all deeply seeded beliefs that often stay with us our entire lives, and we cannot give up this narrow opportunity to shape them. We do this on two levels; first, experientially. Kids who plant, harvest, and cook stop seeing food as something that just appears, and start seeing themselves as part of making it. A few of the ways this has looked in practice include actively being involved in supporting school gardens across the district and helping to build up programs like RCTC Culinary Arts and Bakery Science and the new Botany Program. A couple of weeks ago, Jenny and Esha joined Grizzly X Day at Perry Early Learning Center, where we're starting a new garden club for 1st graders. The second is systemic. We invest in the systems that feed our children, because a garden club alone can't fix a cafeteria tray. Together, these two approaches are how a community builds generational health. In 2025, USDA canceled the Local Food for Schools program, which would have put nearly $18 million into the hands of Michigan farmers and schools. That's money that would have put Michigan-grown food in school lunchrooms. A bill introduced in Congress this summer, the Local Foods for Healthy Schools Act of 2026, would make local food funding for schools permanent. Again, we ask: are our school meal dollars going to serve local youth and local farmers, or the companies with the biggest lobbying budgets? Indigenous Peoples’ Day is also this month, and within it, an important reminder that this work did not begin with, nor is it owned by, any federal program. Indigenous peoples, including the Anishinaabe, who stewarded the land we farm today, were teaching children to grow, gather, and prepare food long before these programs came to be. This work continues today through organizations like First Nations Development Institute's Native Farm to School. That history isn't separate from what’s in front of a child today; Indigenous teaching has informed and built generations of farm-to-school work for all people. The Black Panther Party's free breakfast program and Fannie Lou Hamer's Freedom Farm Cooperative are just two examples of communities coming together to feed their children when the system refused. We learn from that lineage, we tell their stories, and we steward school food systems that nourish our youth from the inside out. Every community's food system is shaped by what we teach and feed its young people. So we celebrate Farm to School Month by continuing to sow seeds of generational health in the minds and hearts of our young people. In solidarity, Julius P.S. Here are a few ways to get involved directly: request a field trip (you don't have to be a school), request school garden support , or fund free field trips for local youth through "Pay It Forward" on our auction .

Rematriation and Homecoming

By Julius Buzzard • September 1, 2026

Beloved Community, I've been thinking a lot about seeds and seed rematriation this season, and even more so as I sit with our bare seed libraries and seeds strewn about, drying for the season to come. Seed rematriation is the practice of returning ancestral and sacred seeds back to the Indigenous communities and lands from which they came. It's a deliberate departure from "repatriation." Through this lens, we are reminded that seeds are so much more than objects; they are relatives. And so, rematriation is not simply a transaction, but a homecoming. Over the past couple of seasons, our Teen Leaders have built a seed library in each of our spaces. These are places where community members can take seeds, plant them, and grow them, with the hope that they'll return the communal favor by collecting and bringing seeds back as the season turns. This simple practice reminds us that seed does not belong to any one person; we just happen to be its current stewards. Together, we foster a legacy that connects us with our ancestors who've walked before us and the stewards of the future who have not yet been dreamt up. Our Blue Hopi corn paints this very picture. It's a beautiful deep purple, drought-hardy and built by generations of farmers who knew the land intimately. At nearly six feet, it's impossible to miss; and every passing is a visual reminder of the people who stewarded these seeds, this land, and the dream that has become Growing Hope. Seeds hold our sustenance, hand down our recipes, protect our culture, and enshrine our stories. Over the past century, museums, universities, and policy have displaced peoples and seeds alike. This displacement attempts to overwrite the lessons learned by those indigenous to our land. It erases their stories. Rowen White puts it eloquently when she reflects on what she was taught by her elders: "the seeds are a reflection of the people." When a seed is scattered, something in the community is scattered too. And when it comes home, community comes home with it. Growing Hope's seed libraries are a small, local practice, not an extension of Indigenous seed rematriation. But the discipline underneath it, that what's entrusted to you is not yours to keep, is one we're trying to learn from and hold ourselves accountable to. The simple, yet powerful, act of returning a seed to the ground is one small way to practice that same discipline. We all carry things that were entrusted to us, but are not ours alone: a story, a recipe, a way of doing something. Passing them on is its own kind of seed saving. Maybe yours isn't a Blue Hopi corn stalk; it's the recipe your grandmother never wrote down, or a skill someone taught you that you haven't taught anyone yet. Saving these seeds, sharing these stories, is how we actively participate in a community market by reciprocity and shape the story of humanity. We're heading into the season built for this. The fall equinox lands on September 22 this year, and the Harvest Moon (also known as the Corn Moon) follows a few days later, on the 26th. This seasonal shift marks the turn Mother Earth asks us to notice: what comes next? Seed saving is simply paying attention to that question and writing down an answer. If you've never saved seed before, start small and let a plant or two go further than you normally would. Dry what you gather somewhere out of direct sun, store it in a cool, dry place, and label it (because you will not remember what that unlabeled envelope was next spring). Consider bringing them to one of our seed libraries and sharing them with our community of growers. Together, as we save seed, we help the natural world as a whole keep the core of its identity alive. We continue the cycle of nourishment, season after season. In solidarity, Julius P.S. Listen through some of the Ypsi Farmers & Gardeners Oral Histories to hear many of the stories our community is preserving collectively, and consider writing down and sharing your own. We all have a story to share, and collectively, our stories build freedom.

Teen Reflections: Nick & Sienna

August 13, 2026

Dear Growing Hope Community, August 6th marked the last day of our eight-week Summer Teen Leadership Program! Over the past eight weeks, 12 Ypsilanti teens joined us as part of our farm staff for an intensive summer program of farm work and workshops on food justice, community organizing, social identity, and cooking lessons. The teens worked hard this summer caring for their Oasis Garden, Children’s Garden, and the Sharing Garden, harvesting food for our free produce cooler, and partnering with local organizations to deepen their knowledge about the Washtenaw County food system. The Teen Leadership Program is an integral part of Growing Hope, and we are so proud of and grateful for this incredible group of young people! This Summer, we had two Teen Crew Leaders, Sienna Troy and Nick Corvera-Garay, and they worked incredibly hard building community among new teen crew members, leading teambuilders, and leading our social identity workshops every Wednesday. They have a few reflections on their time in the Teen Leadership Program that they would like to share. We are so proud of their work at Growing Hope and wish them all the best in their future endeavors as Sienna goes off to college and Nick continues on into the after school program and as our Staff Representative on the Growing Hope Board of Directors! Sienna Troy, Lincoln High School I’ve been at Growing Hope for three summers and unfortunately, I graduate from the program this year. I hate to leave, but I’m so grateful for the experiences I’ve had, the people I've met, and the knowledge I’ve gained. Growing Hope has gotten me more ready and prepared for life than any school ever will. I have learned how to be the best version of myself. If you asked me how I would describe myself my first year, I’d say introverted, quiet, and probably secluded. None of that describes who I am now. Working here has made me break out of my shell and create so many deep bonds. I have made so many friends and met so many new people who will forever have a special place in my heart. Growing Hope will be the only job I ever have where I’m excited to wake up in the morning and go to work. Being greeted every morning by beautiful flowers is such a special feeling especially when you’re the one who put the work into them. I even started my own garden using all the things I’ve learned. I loved taking in so much new knowledge during our workshops, so I could go home and tell everyone about it. There is so much passion flowing through me for the work we do and I’ll never be able to express how honored I am to be a part of it. I’m so grateful for all I’ve learned and even more thankful for Jenny and Esha for making this program as amazing as it is. I hope to take all the things I’ve learned here and pass it on. No matter how many years go by, Growing Hope will always be a part of who I am and what I want to represent. Growing Hope will always be a warm, welcoming, comfortable environment for me and I’m forever grateful for that. Nick Corvera-Garay, WAVE When I started at Growing Hope, I was in a very rough place in my life. I had been in and out of the hospital all year, I dropped out my freshman year, and I genuinely didn’t know what I was going to do with my future. I was struggling with my mental health, and I felt isolated from my peers. When I applied, I wasn’t expecting to get hired. Now, I am forever grateful that I was. Working here has been a life changing experience. I am now surrounded by people who love and support me in everything I do. I am surrounded by people who encourage me to be myself. I am surrounded by people who listen to my ideas, and take me seriously. At Growing Hope, I’m not just viewed as an intern. I’m viewed as someone who has valuable insight. Watching things grow around me– not just the plants, but the people, (myself included)– has shown me that there is hope for the future. It’s shown me that regardless of the conditions, the surrounding environment, whatever challenges life throws your way, you can grow. Even if someone comes and chews off all your leaves, you can be fruitful. (shout out to our soybean plants!) I’ve learned how to create meaningful change in my community, how to guide a team, how to keep fighting, and how to teach other people to do the same things. Even if I won't ever need to flip compost again, there’s a lesson to be learned about perseverance somewhere in between loaves of bread and orange peels. Both the people and the plants here have taught me things I wouldn’t have learned anywhere else. To me, this is more than a job, it’s a collection of lessons that I will carry with me throughout my entire lifetime. During my time here, I’ve accomplished many things. I helped plan garden beds, build a pond, paint murals around the farm, and last fall, I was elected to the Growing Hope Board as staff representative. I have been welcomed into this space from the beginning, and I am so glad to be in such an important part of this organization. Being the first teen elected to the board feels surreal, and it shows a change within the Growing Hope ecosystem I know we will continue on in the future. Trusting young people to lead and be in charge is important in any field of work, but especially food justice. We are the future, the torchbearers, the ones to create a brighter future. I am eternally grateful that the staff believed in my abilities, and I hope in the future, there are even more opportunities like this for young people like me. As I go into my third fall season, I can’t help but reminisce. Every year, so many people come into this program. I see myself in some of them, and I also see the ways they change and flourish here. I am honored to help guide and support these young people through their journeys. I believe this isn’t just a farm that grows food, but a place that helps our community grow, helps people grow into themselves, and helps us grow a brighter future. I now feel empowered to create change, to help everyone, and I feel that it is truly achievable. With the support of Growing Hope, I look forward to seeing all of the change the teens, myself included, create. I am eager for a brighter future, one that we will build together. I hope you, too, are eager. With love, Nick Corvera-Garay (PS: If you feel touched, empowered, or particularly generous- I’d deeply appreciate it if you considered donating to Growing Hope ! Your donations are matched through September, meaning anything you give will have double the impact. You can help teens like me feel empowered to create change, too.)

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