Refugees rekindle farming traditions at urban farm
By Caleb Hampton Ram Khatiwoda was born and raised on a farm in Bhutan, working and playing
among rows of corn, squash, beans, pota- toes, onions, peppers and fruit trees.
“I grew up milking cows, helping my mom with the grinding stone and climb- ing trees,” he said. But in the 1980s and 1990s, Bhutan’s monarchy implemented a “One Country, One People” policy, cracking down on ethnic minorities and driving out tens of thousands of people of Nepali origin. Khatiwoda fled his home and spent 17 years in a refugee camp in eastern Nepal. During vacations, he continued to work on farms “to be able to buy pencils and books and a change of clothes,” he said. In 2009, Khatiwoda was given the op- portunity to resettle in California. He landed in Sacramento, moved into an apartment and took entry-level jobs, first at a thrift store and later at an eyeglass repair shop. It didn’t take him long to adapt. Soon, he was eating at popular fast-food chains and loving it. “I found the food tastier and crunchier than what I cooked at home,” he said. But the cramped apartment, stifling work environment and processed foods took a toll. “I found I was gaining weight because I sat while working and ate those foods,” Khatiwoda said. He wasn’t alone. While serving as a volunteer medical interpreter, Khatiwoda observed a range of ailments in Sacramento’s Nepali-speaking ref- ugee community, which doctors often attributed to poor nutrition and a sed- entary lifestyle. “I saw a lot of suffering,” he said. In 2015, Khatiwoda organized a meet- ing with a dozen or so families. “We agreed we needed to start farming our own food in order to educate our children and get our elders outside,” he said. The group had a wealth of agricultural experi- ence but lacked land and resources. They went to the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit that helps resettle many of the refugees that come to the U.S., and asked for help. Several years earlier, the organization had launched a program called New Roots, establishing communi- ty gardens and urban farms in a handful of cities to give refugees opportunities to reconnect with their farming traditions. In 2016, about a year after approach- ing the organization, Khatiwoda stood in a 5-acre dirt field, watching jackrabbits and tumbleweeds go by. “It was neglect- ed land and we were neglected people,” he said. “It was a perfect marriage.” Today, the New Roots farm in West Sacramento is a thriving patchwork of 250-square-foot plots, primarily or- ganic, each farmed by a different fam- ily. This year, there are farmers from Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Iraq and Laos. Many of them use the farm to grow produce they can’t easily find in grocery stores and need for home recipes. Those
Lal, Dhan and Brian Prasai, from left, harvest stinging nettle alongside farm coordinator Ram Khatiwoda at the New Roots farm in West Sacramento.
crops include gandana—a kind of chive used in Afghan cuisine—sugar cane, moringa, mustard greens and stinging nettle. The farm also produces local sta- ples such as spinach, kale, chard, garlic and onions. “They grow what they like,” Khatiwoda said. “They know they are eating the best food, which is fresh and organic and comes out of their own hard work.” There are now New Roots programs in 13 cities, including four in California. The Sacramento program includes the 5-acre farm and three community
gardens, which serve around 80 families. There are also New Roots programs in Oakland, Turlock and San Diego. In Sacramento, the farmers and their families consume about a third of the food grown on the farm, while the rest is sold at farm stands and at a few eth- nic grocery stores nearby, such as the Iraqi-owned Babylon City Market. The farm also sells food to the Spork Food Hub in Davis, which distributes it to local schools. According to a survey, the farmers— who pay a small yearly fee—reduced their
vegetable-related grocery bills by 60%. And they keep the income earned from selling their produce, some making as much as $10,000 in a year. In addition to providing a financial boost, New Roots gives newcomers the time and space to learn local farming practices, including organic and re- generative agriculture, as well as how to wash and package their produce for sale. “Their experience from back in their countries is different from farming here,”
See ROOTS, Page 20
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June 21, 2023 Ag Alert 15
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