Cultivating New Farmers
By Gretchen Lehmann
OPB News
PORTLAND, OR (2005-06-13) (Oregon Considered) – The “buy local” trend has had a tremendous impact on agriculture in the Portland metro area. Farmers markets are popping up everywhere; more people are buying weekly boxes of organic produce from specialty farms; and chefs are shaping their menus based on ingredients from local fields.
This trend has brought some new faces to agriculture, but it’s been slow to reach a group with a lifetime of farming expertise.
At this church meeting hall in southeast Portland, farmers, grocery store owners, agriculture officials and bankers are gathered to talk farming. During each presentation, a steady hum of English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese and Hmong fills the air.
Presenter: Our next session is going to be about opening a farm marketing business (followed by translation into Hmong)
They’re all here at the invitation of the Food Policy Council, a city of Portland group trying to build a local food network. At four round tables, the participants huddle around a translator to follow along with the presentation.
Most have farmed all their lives, but never in the U.S. And they’re not sure how to get started.
Sanino Amaro: (through female translator) I had some experience in Mexico as a farmer but you know it’s very different here.
Sabino Amaro has spent the last eleven years working as a construction worker in Hillsboro. Through a translator he explains why he’d like to get into farming.
Sabino Amaro: (through translator) As a kid I sold seeds,
Gretchen Lehmann: What kind of seeds did you sell?
Sabino Amaro: (through translator): Pumpkin. I would sell radishes and carrots and cilantro and other herbs that my mother grew. But to start with a small stand and continue, that is my dream to produce more and maybe I’ll have a bigger place after that.
Others at this workshop have already been growing food for their family in backyard gardens, and they want to find out how to use their skills to make money.
Moderator: Another question?
Hmong man: (through translator) The first question I have is, are there other companies that maybe we can sell directly our produce and our products?
The answer is that there are many opportunities to sell to restaurants and stores, but for these aspiring farmers, it’s often tough to get the information they need. Part of the problem is the language barrier, but another part is that they don’t know where to look for help.
Food Policy Council member Suzanne Briggs says her group is hoping to change that.
Suzanne Briggs: How do we create an economic venue for them to utilize what they bring from the countries they came from and what they knew?
The gathering on this day is the second such event the Food Policy Council has arranged. And it’s built up many partnerships with community groups hoping to help immigrant farmers. One partner is Mercy Corps Northwest.
The agency is looking into providing micro-enterprise loans to help aspiring farmers capitalize on their skills. John Haines is executive director of Mercy Corps Northwest. He says now is a perfect time for immigrants to get into small-scale farming in Portland.
John Haines: We’re really interested in the business development side so stair-stepping people from a market stall, farmers markets, direct sales to farmers markets, and steer people to better farm practices so they can get better value.
Over the last six years, the metro area-including Clark County, Washington-has experienced a boom in small farms. Haines says traditional large farms are either renting out part of their land, or selling off plots.
John Haines: Therein we hope is an opportunity for refugees, immigrants, lower-income people to first rent, then lease, then perhaps purchase these smaller plots.
Mae Herr is a perfect case in point. On a two-acre plot tucked behind a new subdivision in Scappoose, she patiently plucks out the weeds growing in her dahlia beds. Herr came to the US from Laos after the Vietnam War.
Mae Herr: (through translator) What I plant here is sweet peas and strawberry and flowers.
Through a translator, Herr explains that, in Laos, as soon as you’re old enough to farm, you’re farming. Here in the US, Herr and her husband work factory jobs, but when they needed more money to support their family, they returned to the field.
Mae Herr: I have a job that I work full-time 8 hours a day. We farm on the site just for extra money and on our extra time.
Herr rents this two-acre plot. She says it’s a challenge to find an affordable piece of land, and one that has easy access to water. But she lucked out and has created a small niche for herself at several local farmers markets.
Mae Herr (through translator) It’s called Hmong green vegetable or lettuce.
Gretchen Lehmann: What does it taste like?
Herr: (through translator) It’s very good. It’s no different than the Chinese broccoli.
Herr managed to start farming on her own. But for many, money is a stumbling block. Other than micro-enterprise loans, or pooling resources from friends and family, start-up money is scarce.
Once these farmers have proven themselves, however, they can apply for loans from the US Department of Agriculture and other sources.
Immigrant farmers have caught the attention of local and national groups because they’re potential recruits for a dwindling agriculture sector. John Haines with Mercy Corps Northwest says the Portland metro area hasn’t even come close to realizing its potential for local agriculture.
John Haines: A lot of refugees and immigrants are interested in farm production. 3rd, 4th generation Oregonians are seeing the work their parents did and are choosing not to do it.
It’s too soon to tell whether immigrants will become the next generation of farmers in the metro area. But if today’s workshop of 25 or so aspiring farmers is any indication, there’s definitely interest.
Sabino Amaro: Organico?
Translator: The question is, if I choose a crop should I go organic.
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Posted by: Paul on June 13, 2005 at 20:04:11