Profile: New Roots Bronx Community Farm

      Posted On: August 3, 2021

Throughout National #FarmersMarketWeek we’re highlighting a few standout local food systems organizations that we’ve found inspiring over the past year. First up, the New Roots’ Bronx Community Farm!

At New Roots’ Bronx Community Farm, the mission of developing a community-driven food system extends far beyond growing food. The half acre farm — which was previously an abandoned lot — is now a thriving space of community engagement, education, cooking workshops, and food production. These programs are all facilitated by the New Roots Community Farm members, who are predominantly refugees and asylees, connected to the farm through the International Rescue Committee’s Economic Empowerment program. The farm is a space of collaboration and intergenerational knowledge sharing, as community members work together to steward the land and grow culturally appropriate food. This was especially vital during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the farm continued to operate and distribute food to community members with their weekly farmers markets and community shares–all of which are made accessible through partnerships with SNAP matching, EBT, and FMNP. Additionally, the farm places a unique emphasis on encouraging the development of enterprises–as it is partnered with Small Axe Peppers, a local Bronx hot sauce company, to grow serrano peppers for their products in exchange for affordable retailed hot sauce at the weekly farmers markets. As the farm continues to serve as a space of healing, empowerment, and nourishment in its 9th year of production, it is abundantly evident that community run farmers markets are essential.