We are honored to give a 2023 Youth Food Champion Award to Odivio Mariano.
Odivio Mariano is a 20 year old Lewiston resident. He has also been a participant in St. Mary’s Nutrition Center’s youth programs for a number of years, most recently as Team Leader for a new program collaboration program called Gateway to Opportunity.
Working with 14 and 15 year olds, Odivio helped introduce young people to gardening, cultivating the land, local food systems and nourishing meals by working with them in the gardens and in the kitchen and empowering them to expand their skills and curiosity in these areas.
As Katie Collins, one of the Fall Garden programmers, accounts, “Odivio is passionate about these issues and works hard to connect with the youth and instruct them with compassion and thoughtfulness.” This very much aligns with the Food Charter values of Leadership & Local and Sustainable Agriculture. In this face of complex economic issues and environmental crises, we need leaders like Odivio to take the lead amongst youth.
ABOUT: Those honored with Youth Food Champion Awards are individual youth or youth groups from the greater Lewiston-Auburn area who strive to create a more vibrant and healthy food system from farm-to-fork. Those honored with awards ‘lead by example’ in one, or more, of the five principles of the LA Community Food Charter. Learn more about the other 2023 Food Charter Champion Award winners here.