WEST VALLEY CITY — Seeds of new beginnings are sprouting throughout the New Roots farm, a 1.5-acre parcel where refugees will grow food for consumption and sale as well as build community with participants from other ethnic communities.
"It's a great title as we look at people coming here from all over the world planting their roots here as well," said at-large Salt Lake County Councilman Jim Bradley during a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday. The garden is a partnership among Salt Lake County, the Utah Refugee Coalition and the International Rescue Committee.
For Beda Dhakal, a Bhutanese refugee, the farm enables his family, which was resettled in Utah 17 months ago, to work together to tend a garden patch.
"We come here every week to look at our garden," he said, explaining that Bhutanese families have planted beans, mustard seeds and legumes in their section of the farm.
Elsewhere on the farm, which is located behind the Redwood Recreation Center, Tial Philip was checking some carrot sprouts from seeds planted over the weekend.
Philip, a refugee of Myanmar, said seven families will work in the Chin community garden.
"It really means a lot to us because it's like a hometown. In our hometown, we have our own garden, (we) eat fresh and do everything fresh. We don't say, 'OK, let's drive my car to the grocery store.' If we want something to eat, we go to the garden, pick something, cook it and it's fresh," she said.
Philip said the farm enables people of different cultures to mingle and get to know one another. "It's very nice. We can talk to each other so we can share the culture and how the family works. I think that's a very good idea."
Missy Larson of the Utah Refugee Coalition described the farm as "the perfect project" because it brings together the resources of land, people, individual contributions and corporate donations.
"It is such a beautiful connection," Larson said. "This is the type of project that has always been our goal."
The goals of the program are to provide participants with access to local, healthy and familiar food; facilitate self-sufficiency through direct sale of produce to consumers and to foster the strengths of refugee communities.
Project coordinator Supreet Gill said the various plots were planted over the past weekend. "It was so wonderful to (hear) so many different languages spoken," she said.
Financial support for New Roots farm was provided by GE Capital, First Utah Bank and an Office of Refugee Resettlement RAPP grant.
The site also includes a half-acre community garden.
E-mail: marjorie@desnews.com