{"id":11014,"date":"2022-10-25t11:16:58","date_gmt":"2022-10-25t11:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/heres-what-a-refugee-farmer-grows-on-an-urban-chicago-farm\/"},"modified":"2023-02-24t21:06:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24t21:06:59","slug":"heres-what-a-refugee-farmer-grows-on-an-urban-chicago-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/heres-what-a-refugee-farmer-grows-on-an-urban-chicago-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"here\u2019s what a refugee farmer grows on an urban chicago farm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

green space in chicago is quite the contrast from the hustle, bustle, and asphalt that typically characterizes the city. global garden refugee training farm, a community-sustained farm, happens to be one of those special green spaces in chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the farm itself, just off of storefront-lined lawrence avenue, interrupts the cityscape, appearing like a lush jungle apparition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

although the farm has \u201ctraining\u201d in its official name, linda seyler, the director of the farm, says that there\u2019s not much that she or farm manager haley lerand have to teach them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cthey were farmers in their home country. they\u2019re the best farmers i\u2019ve ever met,\u201d seyler says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
the sign at the entry of global garden refugee training farm. (adriana martinez-smiley\/northwestern university)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

their training does, however, focus on preparing farmers for chicago\u2019s climate, as well as introducing new crops that the farmers might not be familiar with, such as swiss chard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

than naing oo, one of global garden\u2019s market farmers, says \u201ckale, chard, spring onion, they love the cold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lerand says that farmers might not be immediately excited about growing more typical american produce, but that it eventually grows on them. in fact, she says some market farmers might not have even tried eating some of the american vegetables that they grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

naing oo, on the other hand, is curious, and although he didn\u2019t initially like arugula, he\u2019ll eat it after pickling it in a brine of water, dried rice, and salt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

naing oo has been selling his yields as a market farmer for two years now, but has been farming with global garden since its inception in 2012. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

farm essentials for a global community<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

before coming to the u.s., naing oo spent 20 years in a refugee camp in thailand. he is karen (pronounced kah-ren), an ethnic identity that is a point of contention in myanmar due to karen people’s ongoing persecution in the country. most farmers at global garden \u2013 about 75% in fact \u2013 are refugees from myanmar (previously burma). many of them dislike being referred to as burmese, a term that challenges their people\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

farmers like naing oo have brought traditional fruits and vegetables to chicago to grow in their garden, while also integrating local cultivars. known as his \u201csignature\u201d are chinese long beans, which he likes to prepare in a salad with fish sauce, lime, and other veggies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in late september, he had picked his plants bare, taking what he could before the end of market season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

amaranth is another popular crop with the farmers, including naing oo. it is indigenous to the americas, but is mostly seen as a weed.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"an
an amaranth plant on the farm on 
september 28, 2022. (adriana martinez-smiley\/
northwestern university)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cif you had a corn or soybean farmer come and visit they would look at us like we\u2019re crazy for cultivating it,\u201d lerand says. but she explains that amaranth is more nutritious than spinach, and farmers often use it for stir frying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

another common fruit on the farm is bitter melon, which lerand says is most commonly used for medicinal purposes. farmers might eat it with eggs, or if they\u2019re really brave, on its own, because, as seyler says, \u201cit is really bitter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

naing oo makes a soup with water, garlic, bitter melon leaf, and squash flowers steeped in hot water, which he says is good for digestion. he says he isn\u2019t much of a cook though, and likes to bring the ingredients home for his wife to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

also on the farm, naing oo likes to grow thai chilis, a popular farm snack that farmers tend to eat on its own raw or wrapped in bitter melon leaf to eat with their stir-fried vegetables and rice \u2013 common in lunch boxes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"an
than naing oo\u2019s obo squash, which he says has the best tasting squash leaves. (adriana martinez-smiley\/northwestern university)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

lerand says that there\u2019s lots of sharing of cuttings and seeds on the farm, creating a sense of community. naing oo was able to get hingala seeds, a plant that\u2019s native to myanmar, from another farmer at global garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cand pretty soon, you have people from all different cultures growing a particular plant, which is really cool to see,\u201d lerand says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sustaining in spite of it all<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

but things don\u2019t always work smoothly on the farm. seyler says that they expect a lot of turnover at the garden, as she says there\u2019s \u201ca natural loss of participants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cthey end up moving out of chicago, because it’s expensive to be here and hard to figure out how to buy a house here, and they don’t need our little garden plot anymore,\u201d seyler says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

she also cited the previous presidential administration for the reduced participation after former president trump put caps on the amount of refugees<\/a> who could enter the united states. even this year, the biden administration has missed the mark on refugee admissions, with only 20% of the allocated spots being filled<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

while the farm wants to prioritize newly arrived refugees, most farmers have been with them for years, with the newest family joining three years earlier. seyler and lerand are happy with the community space the farm has also been able to provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

lerand says that she and seyler have hopes of finding another plot of land in chicago to expand farming opportunities. global garden refugee training farm is not the first refugee agricultural project in the u.s., but it is important that spaces like this one continue to be created for farmers like naing oo so they can stay connected to their traditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

global garden refugee training farm in chicago makes space for refugee farmers to grow traditional fruits and vegetables, while also integrating local cultivars. one farmer shares what he grows in his farm plot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4919],"tags":[112,69,114,4836,3493,4837,3404],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-agriculture","tag-chicago","tag-food","tag-global-garden","tag-produce","tag-refugee-agriculture","tag-urban-farming"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nhere\u2019s what a refugee farmer grows on an urban chicago farm - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/heres-what-a-refugee-farmer-grows-on-an-urban-chicago-farm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"here\u2019s what a refugee farmer grows on an urban chicago farm - 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