Supporting Our Newest Americans
Sharing Our Roots serves a diverse group of constituencies who come together to model a resilient future, create a shared economy and advance equity.
Immigrant families and farmers across the country are under tremendous strain, with growing threats from immigration enforcement, racism and extreme poverty. At Sharing Our Roots, we are committed to supporting our immigrant community and addressing the drivers of food and land access inequities.
Many of the immigrant farmers who work with Sharing Our Roots have experience farming in their native countries. We support them in applying their knowledge and expertise to Minnesota soil and climate, provide them with technical assistance and training on poultry, perennial and annual production and help them develop business and marketing plans. Many also need help navigating federal and state rules and regulations in their native languages.
Hundreds of Latinx and East African community members have graduated from our Poultry Trainings, helped plan and design our 100-acre farm’s Community Space, participated in our Community Land Share initiative and received emergency food donations from our Community Connectors. These efforts help to build a foundation for thriving rural and immigrant communities. We believe we will achieve a more promising future for communities we are working with to develop and prosper together.
Assisting Transitioning Farmers and Landowners
Established farmers and private farmland owners visit our farm to learn about perennial agriculture’s environmental, social and economic benefits. Through our Climate Land Leaders™ initiative, we engage a growing number of landowners from across the Midwest who want to use their land to help mitigate climate change. Our goal over the next three years: Support 200 landowners sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on 10,000 acres.
To drive our initiatives forward, we partner with local government agencies, nonprofits and businesses. We believe forming strong regional partnerships and collaborations that leverage existing knowledge and infrastructure is the surest way to build a new food and agriculture system that values immigrant workers, consumers and the land.
Sharing Our Roots is designed to catalyze innovation. A key conceptual framework for everything we do is the idea of Shared Economy and the Common Good. We are promoting a paradigm shift in the way people, organizations and institutions operate and share resources.
