"You Are The Food System" Video Documents East Palo Alto Community Farmers' Market Success

Click on the center of the image below to view a new documentary produced by East Palo Alto Youth Reporters that documents food system change in East Palo Alto.

This video was produced by talented Youth Reporters working for EPA.net: Ana Soto and Mario Trujillo. Este vídeo fue producido por los reporteros talentosos de la juventud que trabajaban para EPA.net: Anecdotario Soto y Mario Trujillo.

Mario Trujillo has been working with EPA.NET (Summer Youth Employment Program) during the last summer. Mario lives in EPA and is a freshman at Carlmont High School.

Ana Soto has been working with EPA.net and "Get Fit EPA," a local health collaborative supported by Collective Roots. She is a seasoned Youth Reporter at EPA.net. Ana hopes that “more people in the community will come out to support the market and that it will become bigger and better. Working with this project is teaching me a lot of things about East Palo Alto that I did not know. East Palo Alto is changing – and youth are helping to make it better." 

Both Ana and Mario worked through many challenges on the project, such as “getting organized, and coming up with something that would change peoples’ minds about the food system.” They also had to become proficient in using the digital video editing software called “Final Cut Pro,” and develop interview skills. 

Mario Trujillo tells his story

Hi my name is Mario Trujillo and I am a 14-year-old Latino teenager. I have lived in East Palo Alto for eight years of my life. I am a freshman at Carlmont high school and alumni of Cesar Chavez Academy. I feel proud of myself because I know that I will be the first in my family to graduate from high school and go farther in my education.  My parents have always been proud of me and they want me to have every thing that they didn't so I don't want to let them down.

I have been working in a non-profit organization called Epa.net and have been given the position as the Food Guru (the Food Guru is a blog about food and culture in East palo alto). Ana Soto and I worked on the video "You are the Food System." It was a lot of work but it was fun making the video and working with Ana. The over-all results were fantastic because the video was great.

One of my goals in life is to graduate from high school, but my long-term goal is to become a pastry chef. Ever since I was nine years old I used to switch the channel to the food network and watch all those chefs cook and I slowly became interested. I mainly love to bake and my family loves the fact that I like to bake so that they enjoy the goodies that I make. In school I learned a very good habit that could be useful for anybody and it is to always begin with the end in mind.

Ana Soto tells her story

I was born in Mexico on December 7, 1989. I am a freshman at De Anza College. I have been a volunteer tutor at Cesar Chavez School, where I got the chance to see how kids of all cultures have the same thoughts and spirits. I volunteered at the VA Hospital, where I met veterans who told their stories as if it was yesterday. I worked with Nuestra Casa, doing a community survey of Latino parents, to learn about their children and their schools. I started learning filmmaking skills as a Community Fitness Reporter for Get Fit EPA. Before Get Fit, I knew little about what was going on in my community. Get Fit has been a great experience. It showed me how to become a member of my community and to actually see more around me, not only next to me. Now I work at EPA.net and just completed "You are the Food System" with my partner Mario Trujillo, who was a pleasure to work with. I have learned from everything and everyone, but I haven't learned it all and I would like to get there.

Come and support the East Palo Alto Community Farmers' Market:

• Located at St. Francis of Asissi Church
• 1425 Bay Road
• East Palo Alto, CA 94303
• (2 blocks from University Drive & Bay Road)
• Every Sunday from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm

Meet Mario and Ana, the two talented Youth Reporters who worked on this project.

Mario and Ana can be reached by clicking here. We are sure that they would appreciate hearing your praise and feedback regarding their work. 

 Collective Roots is very fortunate to have the talented youth of East Palo Alto tell an important story about the challenges in their food system and the success of the East Palo Alto Community Farmers' Market.

Earlier in the year, Collective Roots was invited to write a story that was published on EPA.net called "You Are the Food System." (click here to view the article). Essentially, the article states that "the food system is not an abstract concept, but rather a system in which we all participate and can make a difference. Our choices of what kind of food we buy, and the actions we take to advocate for our own needs as well as those of our community make a difference in our quality of life and health, and the futures of our children."

The fact that the youth of East Palo Alto understand the challenges and opportunities inherent in their food system, and can communicate it so well, inspires hope for our future, and reminds us of how tremendously fortunate we are to serve the community of East Palo Alto.

Please consider supporting this work

This project provided needed employment and on the job experience for East Palo Alto youth. This project was possible through the generous support of our donors. If you are interested in helping us produce more social documentaries like this, and create additional job training opportunities for youth, please contact Wolfram Alderson, Executive Director of Collective Roots by clicking here.