This past December, Journey’s End Refugee Services was in the nascent stages of beginning its unique plan to construct an urban farm in which refugee farmers would be trained to cultivate and sell various crops throughout the local community. The project, known as the Green Shoots for New Americans Project, has recently completed several crucial stages, as the program is currently in full swing.
The program, funded by a federal grant from the Refugee Agricultural Partnership Program (RAPP), has sought to use urban farming as a means to provide healthy food to refugees and the local community by training refugee farmers and providing them with a variety of skills necessary to be successful.
Since its inception, the program has been multifaceted and has required the implementation of a variety of steps.
First, the construction of the farm’s infrastructure was completed in early May.The farm, located on Brewster Street near the Tri-Main building, consists primarily of a hoop house (a translucent covered structure that encompasses the plot) and the raised beds within (wooden boxes used to grow individual crops). According to Kyla Jaquish, ProgramManager, assembly of the hoop house and the raised beds took three working days with help from volunteers, who provided “crucial” efforts toward completion.
Another integral component of the project has been instruction for participating farmers. Currently, there are 10 farmers from Burma and Bhutan—all with previous farming experience—who are receiving continued instruction from Wilson Street Urban Farm and the Cornell Cooperative Extension. Both organizations are partners in the grant and according to Jaquish are, “providing content and expertise for workshop instruction, as well as helping with manual labor and providing additional knowledge and resources.” Both organizations are also helping instill business values in farmers to help them prosper in the selling of their crops.
The consumption of these crops—selling and distribution, that is—is yet another integralcomponent of the program.Jaquish has been aggressive in pursuing various venues to sell the harvest. As she describes, “we have been to a few different venues including the Broadway Market during the busy Easter shopping weekend, the Tri-Main Building during their annual Rummage Sale fundraiser f
or People’s Park, and now we’re selling at the ECMC Farmer’s Market every Friday from 10am to 3pm.” Jaquish even has hopes to start a farm stand in the Tri-Main lobby, once a week during lunch time.
While the program has clearly attained many of its objectives, there have undoubtedly been challenges. Funding and severe weather had both inhibited the timely implementation of several steps: “With the government shut-down in October, Journey’s End was not provided funding from the grant until a little later than expected. Along with a very long, cold winter, progress on constructing the hoop house and getting things started on the farm were put on hold.”
In addition, Jaquish noted the difficulty of sustaining attendance within the training sessions. “It’s hard when people’s work schedules change, they start classes at a different location, or they get jobs. Of course we encourage the participants to continue working and looking for jobs if they are unemployed, so although they are unable to continue in the program they are still growing as individuals and bettering the lives.”
The program began with 17 participants but eventually fell to 10. Nevertheless, the focus for the project remains on the future. Jaquish says she will plan to lose more participants next year and will accept more applicants within the program, to compensate.
Currently, there are a wide variety of crops being grown. These include cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and herbs, among others. For the future, Jaquish and the project’s farmers are deciding what to else incorporate: “The goal of the program is to learn what we enjoy growing, are good at growing, and want to continue growing. We are growing a large variety to make this decision easier in our second year.” In addition, the selection of crops will cater to the vegetables and herbs that participating farmers previously cultivated in their home countries.
Ultimately, in the coming years the Green Shoots project aims to establish a farmer cooperative so that farmers can share knowledge and resources to strengthen their own capabilities within the program. As Jaquish notes, this can help farmers in “providing the knowledge and assistance they need…[to] help the farmers develop their own farms, and eventually their own businesses.” Classes will continue during the fall to further inculcate business knowledge and strategies to participating farmers.
To enjoy the significant progress achieved so far, Journey’s End celebrated this past Thursday, June 19th, with a Potluck, in which live music, BBQ, and other related activities helped welcome community members to the farm and educate many on the goals of the project.