So you have a town whose major industry has closed, a large immigrant population and high unemployment rates….. obviously you would suggest that they start a garden. As unorthodox as this sounds, it is exactly what Seth Williams, an undergraduate at Hampshire College proposed. The result has been a thriving community farming business, new businesses, a ways to involve youth as small business owners and a real sense of community ownership.

Nuestras Raices, the community garden center, has grown in size and scope under leadership of young (22 when he took over in 1995) Daniel Ross. The center has integrated the entire community, mostly Puerto Rican immigrants. There are 30 acres for farming. Farmers apply to rent out acres ($24/month) after writing a business plan and attending an eight week training program. They have also been given micro-loans to start “incubator farms”. The teenage farmers dont pay rent.

One teenage farmer, Angel Ortiz, has started his own farm (Angel and Bob’s Farm) and are trying to sell their produce to his local high school, Dean Technical. He has also been pivotal in making farming look cool to boys who otherwise feel compelled to get a factory job.

I think this is impressive. This program has developed a greater sense of community, improved their diets, taught small business skills and changed the lives of youth- I think this should be saluted and admired.

Tags: Atlantic Monthly, Dean Technical, Hampshire College, Holyoke, Nuestras Raices

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 10:54 am and is filed under Innovators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.