Recipient Organization
SALT CITY HARVEST FARM INC
4897 LEDYARD DRIVE
MANLIUS,NY 13104
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Since 1979 Syracuse, New York, has been a refugee resettlement city and in the last decade alone has received over 10,000 refugees. Refugees resettled often face the interconnected problems of urban decay and economic stagnation. Lack of access to healthy, culturally important, and affordable food is one of the major forms of structural violence that impacts refugees in these neighborhoods. For the past decade Salt City Harvest Farm (SCHF) has connected the refugee community to land for growing culturally relevant foods. Many of the growers at SCHF tend plots for subsistence, while others have an interest in tapping into markets and developing businesses. The programs and common infrastructure of SCHF provides the groundwork for advanced level training to increase the capacity and marketing opportunities of New american farm operations.The Farm Dreams Apprenticeship Program develops a collaborative approach to increasing the number of New American refugee farm operations. The Farm Dreams Apprenticeship gives refugee and immigrant beginning farmers an experiential education through year your apprenticeship and mentorship. Throughout the growing season, apprentices rotate through leadership roles in plant health, marketing, greenhouse management, and irrigation management while collectively running a small market farm. Apprentices work closely with program staff and partners in developing a farm business plan of their own. Upon completion of the apprenticeship, SCHF offers continued support to the graduates of the program by offering land access, mentoring, shared infrastructure, and market opportunities to launch their own farm businesses.The Farm Dreams Apprenticeship Program addresses the economic and career development needs and aspirations of the growing refugee and immigrant communities in Central New York. Beginning refugee and immigrant farmers in Central New York experience multiple barriers to establishing and operating farm enterprises. Though many come to this country with agricultural skills, limited access to capital, limited literacy, and knowledge of markets often prohibit them from getting started. The apprenticeship program will increase marketing capacity in a collaborative, experiential learning experience.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The projects's goal is to provide more advanced agricultural education to New American beginning farmers through an experiential learning apprenticeship program. The program will increase marketing capacity in a collaborative model farm and marketing structure led by apprentices and supported by staff. The program will enhance program graduates' successes in growing food for market in Central New York. Three objectives support this goal:Objective 1: To expand education and skills in running economically and ecologically resilient farm businesses to 9 paid apprentices by collaboratively running a model market farm.Objective 2: Reduce barriers for 30 beginning farmers by providing access to mentorship and commonly shared infrastructure of land, greenhouse space, irrigation, and washing/packing/cold storage.Objective 3: Build capacity for 30 New American beginning farmers to market produce through a collaborative marketing program.
Project Methods
The Farm Dreams Apprenticeship Program will provide education, outreach, mentoring, and continued support to refugee and immigrant beginning farmers who wish to pursue establishment of their own agricultural businesses or manage other agricultural businesses. The majority of the learning in the Farm Dreams Apprenticeship Program will be experiential. Throughout the growing season (March - October), Farm Dreams apprentices will participate in 15 bi-weekly workshops at SCHF, Hartwood Farm, and other partner farmers. Collectively, apprentices will operate a small market farm that distributes produce through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, farmer's markets, food pantries, and restaurant sales. In addition to daily field work, apprentices will rotate monthly through leadership roles in plant health, marketing, greenhouse management, and irrigation management allowing them to strengthen their skills and knowledge. Time for discussion, questions, and explanation will be integrated into the daily activities. From October to December, apprentices will work closely with project partners to develop farm plans of their own that will be presented at the end of their apprenticeship.Field walks will take place at the start of each week throughout the growing season. These whole farm walkthroughs will last between 1-2 hours and will be the designated time in the week to discuss what is going on in the field and how to prioritize the upcoming week's tasks. Apprentices will be encouraged to make observations and ask questions during this time. Interpretation will be arranged for 2 hours during weekly field walks.In partnership with the Center for Agricultural Entrepreneurship and Development (CADE) and the Onondaga Small Business Development Center (OSBDC), SCHF apprentices will be taken through a business planning class utilizing CADE's curriculum. From October - December, apprentices will become clients of OSBDC who will work closely with them as they work through the 6 week curriculum.The Project Director will lead a participatory evaluation program for the project. Program staff will work closely with and mentor apprentices in accomplishing their personal goals. At the beginning of the program apprentices will work on identifying realistic goals they'd like to achieve throughout the apprenticeship. Program participants (farm apprentices and beginning farmers) will be involved in the process of defining their goals linked to specific indicators of success at an Evaluation Meeting prior to each growing season (before April 30). These goals and indicators will be used for a formative self-assessment two months after the initial Evaluation Meeting. Attendance sheets and brief surveys will be filled out by participants at each of the workshops.