Foundation Farms · Modular microgreens · Dallas, Texas
Paid vocational training for current and former foster youth: we teach them how to farm, hire them to grow, and sell the harvest to restaurants and other buyers across Dallas–Fort Worth. 100% of proceeds return to the nonprofit — wages, training, and the next cohort.
Grow to Earn is paid vocational training — a Dallas Education and Human Services program of American Foster Futures. Youth learn indoor farming on modular microgreen systems at Foundation Farms, then work paid production and delivery shifts. The farm is the classroom and the first job — a real product, real customers, and a paycheck.
Paid vocational training sits in both lanes: skills and credentials on one side, support for vulnerable Texas youth on the other.
A 12-week paid vocational curriculum in crop science, food safety, production, and restaurant delivery. Completers earn a Texas Food Handler certificate, documented work hours, and a pathway into DFW food jobs or further training — vocational education that connects to real labor demand.
Current and former foster youth ages 16–24 get paid vocational training, a first job, transportation help, and a workplace that will take the training risk. That is direct support for some of the most vulnerable young Texans — wages, stability, and a reason to stay housed and employed.
Training and production at Foundation Farms. Sales stay in DFW.
Current and former foster youth. Paid from week one. No farm experience required.
Sales proceeds go back to AFF. No private owner takes a profit.
Four steps, one loop. Grant dollars start the first jobs. Restaurant sales help pay the next ones.
Paid vocational training: a 12-week course in crop science, food safety, harvest, packing, and restaurant delivery. Youth earn a Texas Food Handler certificate.
Completers are hired as Foundation Farms associates — sowing, lighting, harvest, quality control, and DFW deliveries on a real production schedule.
We sell to restaurants, caterers, and other DFW buyers. Chefs get a consistent local product. Youth learn customer service, not just trays and lights.
Every dollar of proceeds returns to American Foster Futures — youth wages, instructor time, certificates, and the next Dallas cohort.
Young people leaving foster care in Texas are far less likely to hold steady work by their early twenties. Many have never had a first employer who will take the training risk. Grow to Earn is that employer.
Foundation Farms was established in Dallas in May 2026. The inaugural crop in June 2026 included red-veined sorrel, pea tendril, purple radish, Triton radish, cilantro, basil, and arugula.
Twelve weeks, sixteen hours a week, paid. Completers who meet attendance and food-safety standards are offered a Farm Associate role.
Farm as a workplace
Safety, clocks, hygiene, and what a restaurant kitchen expects from a grower.
Seed to tray
Varieties we grow, seeding density, soak times, and a first tray of their own.
The modular system
Racks, LEDs, airflow, watering, and how a small room becomes a farm.
Crop science
Light, water, mold, and yield. Read a tray the way a chef reads a plate.
Texas Food Handler
State food-safety certification required for anyone who packs food for restaurants.
Harvest and cold chain
Cut, wash, dry, pack, label, and hold product at temperature until delivery.
Quality and yield
Weigh, log, and reject. Chefs pay for consistency, not almost.
The DFW buyer
How restaurants order, what a chef needs on a Thursday, and a first delivery ride-along.
Costing the crop
Seed, labor, packaging, waste. Why 100% of proceeds can still fund the next trainee.
Shift lead skills
Handoffs, checklists, talking to a coworker, and running a two-hour harvest window.
Where the job can go
Restaurant line, produce, logistics, indoor farming, or a certificate program — with a résumé that has hours on it.
Capstone production week
Run a full cycle: seed through chef delivery. Completers are offered associate roles.
Sowing, lighting, irrigation, harvest, packing, labeling, and restaurant delivery. Associates work a set weekly schedule so the farm can promise chefs a standing order.
Training pay starts at $20 an hour. Farm Associates start at $20 an hour. Hours are real work hours, reported, with a pay stub youth can use for housing and benefits.
After a production term, we help associates move into a DFW food employer, a certificate or college program, or a lead role on the farm. The point is a first job that leads somewhere.
Microgreens are a standing garnish and salad crop for Dallas–Fort Worth kitchens. We grow to order on a short cycle, pack food-safe, and deliver on a restaurant schedule. Buyers are not donors. They are customers — which is the point of the job.
100% of proceeds return to American Foster Futures. There is no private owner. After the cost of seed, supplies, and delivery, sales pay youth wages, training, certificates, and the next Dallas cohort.
These are the first-year Education and Human Services measures for this paid vocational training in Dallas: credentials and job placement on one side, wages and retention for foster youth on the other.
| Measure | Year 1 target |
|---|---|
| Youth enrolled (Dallas, current/former foster care, ages 16–24) | 24 (two cohorts of 12) |
| Training completion | 80% |
| Texas Food Handler certificates earned | 100% of completers |
| Hired as Farm Associates or placed with a DFW food employer | 70% of completers |
| Still working at 90 days | 75% of those hired |
| Active DFW restaurant or wholesale accounts | 8 standing buyers |
| Sales proceeds returned to the program | 100% |
Current and former foster youth ages 16–24 who can get to Dallas for shifts. Curiosity beats experience. We help with bus passes and shift times because transportation is often the reason a first job falls apart.