Progress 12/01/14 to 11/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:This project provided Beginning Farmer Training instruction to15 refugees who live in Albany Park, a densely populated, low-income neighborhood of mixed residences and retail businesses on Chicago's north side. The poverty rate for the Farm's census tract (1401) is 20.3%. Median annual income is $35,013 with 44% of households and 37% of families earning less than $25,00 per year. Income in most refugee households is significantly lower than this median. Local public schools report student low income rates between 75% and 96%. Albany Parkis one of the threemost culturally diverse communities in the United States, with over 40 languages spoken in the local schools. Project participants were all farmers in their country of origin -which for this project included Bhutan, Burma, and Haiti - who have expressed interest in learning how to adapt their traditional farming expertise to the Midwest United States. Changes/Problems:This project experienced the same problems with client enrollment and full attendance as most refugee resettlement and training programs. As a group, newly arrived refugees live busy, stressful lives which include learning a new language, immersion in a new cultural and technological milieu, low wage employment, inflexible and/or demanding work schedules, and new stressors on relationships within families. They may enroll in a 6-week course with the best of intentions, but many are just not able to follow through with attendance as planned. GGRTF will therefore seek to break teaching plans into smaller units which can be delivered less formally in the field and offered at multiple times to accommodate more refugee farmers. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Project Manager and lead instructor, Linda Seyler, attended theIllinois Specialty Crops Conference in January 2015.and the Midwest Organic and Sustainble Education Services (MOSES) conference in February, 2015. Both of these events provided professional training in subject matter and teaching methods, and opportunities to network with colleagues. The project activities of planning and delivering teaching material in a formal class roomsetting provided the lead instructor a valuable opportunity to clarify, consolidate, and preserve/record teaching methods previously used and developed in the field. The project manager is a particpant in theNational Refugee Beginning Farmer Project lead by Dr. Hugh Joseph, Tufts University which is allowing instructors from refugee agricutural projects across the U.S. to share teaching strategies and develop curriculum guides for several topics. All the teaching materials developed by Global Garden Refugee Training Farm in this project will be shared with, reviewed, and further developed with this network. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project manager is a participant in the National Refugee Beginning Farmer Project (and funded by USDA/NIFA-BFRDP) lead by Dr. Hugh Joseph, Tufts University which is allowing instructors from refugee agricutural projects across the U.S. to share teaching strategies and develop curriculum guides for several topics. All the teaching materials developed by Global Garden Refugee Training Farm in this project will be shared with, reviewed, and further developed with this network. The National Refugee and Immigrant Conference, which usually is held annually in Chicago, did not meet in 2015. Results from this project will be presented next time this Conference meets. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Please know that the project goals stated above are from our initial proposal for a 3-year project. We were instead awarded a one-year development grant, so our goals and accomplishments are necessarily more modest. In one year, we delivered two 6-weekcourses and developedteaching materials for four 6-week courses. Topics delivered were Farm Business Management and Crop Planning & Season Extension, with additional materials prepared for courses in Soil Management and Season Extension. 15refugee farmers from Bhutan, Burma, and Haitiparticipated. Participants in the Crop Planning & Season Extension course learned how to select appropriate crops/varieties for 4-season climates, crop planning for optimal production, soil & water management in temperate regions, organic practices, and GAPS. They are expected to adopt and grow new varieties in the appropriate season, especially cool season vegetables beginning in 2016. They understand the types of information presented in seed catalogs and how to use this information to select the best varieties for local markets and optimal production, decide how much seed to order, and develop a planting calendar. Participants understand that there are a variety of farming practices in the U.S., including conventional vs. organic practices, and see potential points of entry for themselves. They understand that it ispossible and profitable to grow vegetables year-round in cold climates. They learned how to construct and use low tunnels. Participants in the Farm Business Management course were introduced to standard for record keeping and planning practicesin the U.S. They did not master these practices, but now know what is expected of farm managers. They learned about marketing options (farm stands, farmers market, CSA, restaurant sales, and wholesale)for small-scale vegetable producers and discussed good customer service practices, especially per direct retail sales. It is expected that participants will have higher income from sales at our farmers market during the 2016 season. Becausemost of our participants are refugees with limited English and a lack of literacy in any language, written evaluations were not possible. Learning -and teaching method- was assessed in class via the quality of questions asked and the level of engagement in discussions. Students were encouraged to share andcompare farming practicesamongtheir various home countries and the U.S. Discussions which engaged students from different language groups -requiring complex language interpretation so that all could participate- were especially fruitful. This happened several times, but especially when we covered growing seasons for tender crops (ex. tomatoes), marketing practices, and the large number of vegetable varieties offered in the U.S.
Publications
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