In this low-income North Minneapolis neighborhood, fresh vegetables are hard to come by. But 10 teens have begun a bakery to change that.Â
In the part of North Minneapolis where 17-year-old Leensa Ahmed grew up, drugs and crime are and more easily found than produce.
But four years ago, Leensa and nine of her friends came up with an idea to ensure children and adults alike in her area can not only eat fresh vegetables â but also enjoy them.
Leensa is the CEO of the completely teen-run Green Garden Bakery, which uses vegetables to create desserts like jalapeno chocolate chip cookies, beet brownies, and carrot pumpkin bread.
âThe kids didnât really like vegetables, so that was the start of it to try and get them to eat their vegetables,â said Jacobi Simmons, 18, one of the teens working at Green Gardens.
The teens began concocting the idea for a bakery in 2014 when they met at a community center cooking class that also taught nutrition and gardening and was hosted by national community planning and development non-profit Urban Strategies.
Initially, they began baking as a way to raise money for a friend who was in a car accident. But soon they began to develop a business plan in the class â eventually earning a $10,000 grant for their idea.
What Green Garden has given back has helped to buy security systems for families who were robbed, provided meals for the hungry, and supported adult exercise classes. They also run a youth development program, which helps about 100 middle school kids learn to bake, to garden and the basics of business.
Currently, the teens are working out of a borrowed kitchen, which they travel to on a 45-minute bus ride after school. But after receiving a recent $100,000 grant, they hope theyâll soon be able to own their own commercial kitchen.
Although providing their community with healthy baked goods is the teensâ main objective, theyâve also grown closer and found solace in the kitchen and with one another.
Jasmine Salter, 17, who helps prepare the vegetables, said the day her father died she still came to work at the bakery, feeling it was one of the few unchanging parts of her life.
âItâs like a home. Itâs like one of the only stable things in my life right now. So itâs like Iâm welcome,â she said.