Food and Fieldtrips

Research conducted by Evita Yi (MA, Art and Design Education 2023)

Food and field trips were a major part of the Youth Skills and Development Program during the 1970s. Food was important for many reasons including food insecurity and lack of access to quality food in the local community. Pratt Institute offered food science programs since its foundation and the program resources supported the summer programming.

a student smiling while lifting food from a frying pan with a spoon. They are wearing a Pratt Institute t-shirt.

What was the Food Science Program?

Students learned how to make wise expenditures in the market and shared their new-found knowledge with their parents. Students also learned proper use of raw and broken-down foods and ways to enhance convenience foods. It improved youngsters’ knowledge of nutrition and their skills in purchasing and preparing foods. It also included study of nutrition and preparation of individual and group meals. Students received instruction and practical experience in the preparation of desserts, holiday and seasonal menus, salads, and meat and vegetable products. They learned to make choices from this experience.

Students designed posters for nutrition campaigns in their communities, and constructed nutritional charts. They studied efficient kitchen design and made field trips to local supermarkets, food processing and manufacturing plants, and local mass-feeding facilities in the Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant communities.

A counselor stirring food in a frying pan as a group of students look on.

A student looking down at a frying pan with diced food cooking.

Two students seated at a table eating. Two other students smile at the camera.

A student ladling fruit punch into a glass. Another student watches on.

Students seated at a lunch table eating sandwiches from brown paper bags.

Students standing in from of trays of food.

Students filing into a bus. A counselor waves them in.

Students in front a produce sorting machine. A counselor points at the sorting mechanism.

Students standing behind bins of produce.

Students surrounded by bins of food at Hunt's point market.

two students next to a counselor at Hunt's Point Market. They are surrounded by shelves of merchandise.

Fieldtrips

As part of the program, students went on fieldtrips to the Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenhiem, The Just Above Midtown Gallery(opened from 1974 until 1986), the Studio Museum of Harlem and many other museums. Students also visited zoos, botanical gardens, and nature sites.

Parks, Gardens, and Zoos

Gateway National Recreation Area

Gateway was created by the U.S. Congress in 1972. It provides recreational opportunities that are not commonly found in a dense urban environment, including ocean swimming, bird watching, boating, hiking and camping.

Students exiting a bus. The bus has a banner that reads, "Central Queens Y.M. & Y.W.H.A."

A park ranger kneeling with something in his hands. Three children look on in wonder.

A group of children at the beach digging in the sand.

A group of students looking down at a garden.

Students assembled in a circle. In the center, another student appears to be dancing.

two groups of children playing tug of war in a field surrounded by houses. It's unclear who is winning. Adults look on in supervision.

A group of children hanging on the monkey bars at a playground

Children loading into a school bus. Two adults are locked in conversation at the hood of the bus.

A silhouette of children playing on the beach at the surf.

Bronx Zoo

a group of students looking at a perched parrot

A group of students smiling in front of a mural of a monkey

A group of students riding on top of an elephant

Three people riding on top of an elephant

Fieldtrips to Museums

The Just Above Midtown Gallery

“Just Above Midtown—or JAM—was an art gallery and self-described laboratory led by Linda Goode Bryant that foregrounded African American artists and artists of color. Open from 1974 until 1986, it was a place where black art flourished and debate was cultivated.”

Studio Museum in Harlem

“The Studio Museum in Harlem is the nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally and for work that has been inspired and influenced by Black culture. It is a site for the dynamic exchange of ideas about art and society.”

Three students looking at a sculpture of a torso with arms outstretched

students looking at art in the Studio Museum of Harlem

The Guggenheim Museum

“Committed to innovation, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation collects, preserves, and interprets modern and contemporary art, and explores ideas across cultures through dynamic curatorial and educational initiatives and collaborations.”

Students looking at a painting inside the Guggenheim

A student writing in a notebook inside the Guggenheim

A group of students posing for a photograph outside the Guggenheim

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

“The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870. It presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy.”

A counselor helping a student sketch at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Students observing a painting of a standing man inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Student sketching in front of a sculpture of a figure at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The New York Transit Museum

“The New York Transit Museum is a museum that displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, and commuter rail systems in the greater New York City metropolitan region.”

A counselor stands at the entrance of the Transit Museum. A group of students are lined up in front.

A student sitting on a model subway car labeled "Safety Special" Another student leans on the car.

Students looking at a Transit Museum Employee lecturing