City Farmer News And Burmese Refugees

Good things are growing in New York City. Follow Ah Lun, a refugee from Myanmar, and others as they put down new roots at two IRC-run community gardens and adjust to life in the United States. In this third episode, celebrity chef David Burke visits Drew Gardens to cook with the refugee farmers, and Burmese refugee Ah Lun gets a shot at his dream.

‘Growing Good from the Ground Up’: International Rescue Committee launches campaign to support innovative New Roots program for refugees in the U.S.

By Lucy Carrigan
Media Relations Officer
International Rescue Committee
Sept 4, 2012

The International Rescue Committee has launched a multi-channel campaign to support New Roots, a dynamic community gardening and nutrition program that enables refugees to grow, harvest and sell fresh and affordable produce while integrating into their new communities across the United States.

“We want newly arrived refugees to have a healthy start here, but in many communities where they can afford to live, finding healthy and affordable produce is not easy,” says Ellee Igoe, the IRC’s U.S. advisor for food security and agriculture. “The New Roots program is changing that.”

Working with community partners, the IRC has established New Roots gardens or farms in nine of the 22 cities where it resettles refugees. What once were abandoned lots in cities like San Diego and Phoenix have become thriving community farms where refugees from some of the world’s worst conflict zones find solace in the land, return to the farming traditions they left behind and make locally grown fruits and vegetables available to their families and neighbors.

“The IRC’s New Roots program is transforming lives and communities,” says Igoe, “It’s truly ‘growing good from the ground up,’” which is the campaign’s tagline.

The New Roots campaign seeks to engage the public through webisodes that tell the stories of refugee farmers planting new roots in the Bronx and favorite recipes shared by New Roots farmers from Sudan, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. It also features a social action pledge to stand with refugees as they rebuild their lives in the United States and ways to support the expansion of New Roots and other IRC refugee resettlement programs. Donations will be matched by Newman’s Own Foundation and Starr International Foundation.

Joining the IRC in promoting the New Roots campaign are award-winning chefs and restaurateurs David Burke and Michel Nischan and culinary adventurer Eden Grinshpan. Burke is an author, entrepreneur, philanthropist and owner of eight restaurants, including David Burke Townhouse and David Burke Kitchen at the James Hotel in New York. Michel Nischan is the founder and president of the nonprofit organization Wholesome Wave, which is committed to increasing access to affordable and locally grown produce. He also owns Dressing Room: A Homegrown Restaurant in Westport, Conn. Grinshpan is the host of Eden Eats on The Cooking Channel.

“Many refugees still have that wisdom of the land,” says Nischan, who has met with many refugees who were farmers before being forced to flee. “When they can share that wisdom with their neighbors and exchange ideas about farming, they can contribute to the restoration of communities across this country.”

In New Roots cities, refugees are growing a diverse array of produce. Amaranth, bok choy, shisho and mizuna are sprouting up alongside African eggplant, Asian mustards, Malabar spinach and okra.

“It’s a real cornucopia,” says Burke, whose restaurant David Burke Garden has served produce from the IRC’s New Roots garden in the Bronx. “These gardens show how small spaces, used in this way, can have a real and positive impact on the diets of refugees and local residents in urban food deserts across the United States.”

International Rescue Committee