About New Lands Farm

Mission and Program Goals
Lutheran Social Services (LSS) works to assist refugee clients to secure housing, access public services, learn English, obtain employment and culturally adjust to their new surroundings. For refugees trying to make Massachusetts their new home, agriculture offers them a way to stay connected with their cultural traditions as well as set down roots in their new community. This is what led LSS to start New Lands Farm which now helps some of Massachusetts’ newest farmers get involved with various agricultural opportunities.

In 2008, LSS launched New Lands Farm. Many refugees were arriving with agricultural backgrounds and frequently asking their case managers about growing food and their employment counselors about work opportunities in the farming sector. In response, LSS developed an agriculture program aimed to involve refugees in various farming and gardening activities that would allow them to grow food for their families and offer the prospect of developing self-sustaining careers in agriculture.

Many new Americans were farmers in their former countries and have skills and foods to share with their new neighbors. Also, they have a lot to learn – a new climate, soils, seasons, pests, where to get seeds (not to mention English!). That is why LSS, in conjunction with many partners, offers training and access to resources to help them get started.

New Lands Farm’s mission is to empower new Americans through agricultural projects to honor their food traditions, earn supplemental income, and contribute in a meaningful way to their new community and the local food system.

Who Our Farmers Are
New Lands Farm is a refugee farmer collective. Refugees are persons fleeing persecution in their homeland and seeking protection in a new country. Despite previous hardships, most refugees possess resilience and are motivated to begin a new life. Representing a diversity of culture and experiences, our farmers come from all over the world. Currently, the top countries of origin are Iraq, Burma and Bhutan, but over the past few years LSS has welcomed refugees from Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, D.R. Congo, the former Soviet Union, Liberia, Somalia and Vietnam. Of these populations, a large number have experience working in an agricultural setting either as farmhands, farm owners, subsistence farmers or gardeners.

New Lands Farm has enrolled over 100 families who have expressed an interest in gardening, farming or working on local farms. Some have accessed farm jobs and training programs; others have tended community garden plots in the city; while others still have launched their own market garden operations with the aim of bringing produce to market and supplementing their income. Ultimately, the farmers are what make this agriculture project both possible and unique. Their diversity of experience, knowledge, and commitment is the heart of New Lands Farm.

Program History
Although New Lands Farm is a relatively new program, we have accomplished a lot in a short period of time and with every year the program continues to expand and help more refugee farmers. Below is a brief history of how our program began and how it has grown.

2008:
In 2008, Lutheran Social Services helped three Russian and Ukrainian farmers grow over 5,000 pounds of produce at the Nuestras Raices Tierra de Oportunidades Farm. Nuestras Raices, a non-profit farmer training project and new business incubator in Holyoke committed to community and agricultural development, supplied training and assistance throughout the season. The farmers provided fresh food to their families and donated to needy community members. They also earned supplemental income by selling at local markets, including the Westfield Farmers’ Market.

2009:
In 2009, we continued to have farmers cultivate plots of land at the Nuestras Raices site. One of the farmers from the previous year developed his own partnerships with local businesses, marketing to local pizza restaurants and grocery stores.

Additionally, we started the community gardens aspect of the program. During our first year as a program it became clear that some refugees were interested in growing food for their families but needed access to land near their homes. We partnered with local organizations in Worcester, West Springfield and Westfield to find smaller plots of land near farmers homes that could be cultivated for personal use. For a new project it was popular, close to thirty families participated in the community gardens during its first year.

Finally, in 2009, we partnered with LSS employment staff to develop a supplementary agricultural employment aspect of the program. This focused on outreaching to local farms and nurseries to gain access to various employment opportunities for refugees who were interested.

2010:
The following year we continued the community garden project and increased the numbers of garden sites and families involved. Farmers also continued to utilize farm space provided by Nuestras Raices and grow produce for local markets.

Also in 2010, what has become a major part of the New Lands Farm program, began on a farm in Sutton. Owners of a farm, that actively grows a diversity of vegetables and raises animals for CSA and markets, had a portion of unused land and were interested in helping with the farming project. So a new branch of New Lands Farm was created and many refugee families got involved cultivating both individual plots and larger community plots. During it’s first season New Lands Farm in Sutton farmed 1.5 acres and due to its success, the farm nearly doubled in size in 2011!

Furthermore, during this year LSS launched its micro-enterprise program, which offers business and financial assistance to farmers as they move toward creating independent businesses.

2011:
2011 saw similar success stories with greater numbers of growers involved, more products sold and new land cultivated! New Lands Farm participants grew food for their families at community garden sites in Westfield, West Springfield, Springfield and Worcester. While others continued farming for a second year at New Lands farm in Sutton and at the Nuestras Raices Farm site. Additionally, farmers started to cultivate plots of land at our new 12-acre farm in West Springfield, one of the last remaining farms in the city.

Farmers sold their products in the greater Worcester and Springfield farmers' markets as well as area restaurants and stores. We also expanded trainings and classes that aid farmers in their knowledge of farming in Massachusetts and growing for market.


Partners
Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture
Flats Mentor Farm
Genesis Spiritual Life Center
Land for Good
Merrick Neighborhood Association, West Springfield
New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
Northeast Organic Farming Association
Nuestras Raices
Regional Environmental Council, Worcester
Silvermine Farm
UMass Extension

Funders (Past & Current)
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants
Massachusetts Society for the Promoting Agriculture
US Office of Refugee Resettlement
US Department of Agriculture


New Lands Farm is a program of Lutheran Social Services (LSS). LSS delivers a broad variety of services to children, youth and families; persons with developmental disabilities, mental illness and Deafness; the economically disadvantaged; refugees and older adults. New Lands Farms follows the LSS mission to care for people in need, regardless of background or belief.