Afterschool
Leadership Program
The Afterschool Leadership Program runs Sept-May, guiding 300+ middle and high schoolers through a culinary journey. It provides weekly culturally-relevant, accessible, and empowering culinary education to youth at schools and community sites.
Youth cook together in class, explore the local food system, and are offered take-home ingredients kits to continue learning at home. Our curriculum includes knife skills, grocery stores, wellness, sustainability, world cuisines, and food stories. The food we eat and have access to helps us understand our history, our communities, our climate, and our bodies. We defer to youth to lead conversations that unpack complicated topics of power, privilege, identity, and culture.
Advanced
Afterschool Leaderhip Program
A cohort of 20-25 youth who exhibit independence and passion for technical culinary arts skills gather weekly to learn complicated recipes and practical applications in the heart of Detroit’s food system — the Eastern Market!
Advanced youth earn a stipend for their participation, and attend bonus life skills workshops where they learn about topics ranging from financial literacy to personal wellness. Advanced students gain practical career skills by participating in experiential learning shifts at our Small Batch kitchen. They culminate the year by curating a public-facing popup dining experience.
Virtual
Afterschool Program
Created in response to the pandemic, DFA’s virtual program offers the same culinary arts, wellness, and youth development curriculum that our in-person Afterschool Program does. Youth receive regular deliveries of fresh nutritious ingredients directly to their doorstep, and then cook together on screen! DFA continues to offer a virtual option for youth who do not attend the schools and community sites where DFA holds in-person programming. The virtual program has allowed us to broaden our reach, made our programming more accessible, and forged deeper connections with the families who support our youth.
Summer
Leadership Program
The Summer Leadership Program is an intensive six-week, paid learning experience where youth from our afterschool programs cook together, go on field trips to food businesses within the city, and learn life skills, like financial literacy.
In the summer, Advanced youth intern at work sites and receive mentorship from food entrepreneurs in our community who share DFA’s values and are committed to lifting up the next generation of food leaders.
Small
Batch
Small Batch Detroit is the final arm of DFA’s learning pathway, providing paid career training to alumni of our afterschool programs. Unique program elements include real-world work experiences such as developing and bringing products to market, handling money, exposure to open-book small business management, skill and resume building, and frequent opportunities for face-to-face interactions with local food business professionals from the students’ own communities.