Meet the Modern Farmer Helping Immigrant Farmers Sell Their Produce in Rhode Island
Stanton is currently working with 15 immigrant farmers to help them not only distribute their produce to community organizations, food banks, health clinics, mobile markets and senior residences but also to provide training on food safety, farming techniques and quality control.
By Bridget Shirvell
Modern Farmer
Sept 25, 2022
Excerpt:
The program allows farmers to focus on growing their food instead of also having to find a market for their food and sell it themselves.
“We’re really good at helping people to find land and the access to grow food, but those folks didn’t really have opportunities to sell anywhere else than farmer’s markets, and this aggregation program steps in to help farmers who grow on our land sell to folks that are buying larger amounts than what one farmer would have and give them week-to-week consistency,” says Stanton.
SCLT started with the idea that helping people to grow their own food in community gardens was a solid way to increase economic independence and agency. The organization has nearly two dozen gardens throughout Providence and some larger suburban properties that people can apply to farm on, with priority given to those who live within a mile of the location. It’s one part of the organization’s aim to address food insecurity
Stanton is currently working with 15 immigrant farmers to help them not only distribute their produce to community organizations, food banks, health clinics, mobile markets and senior residences but also to provide training on food safety, farming techniques and quality control.
“We try to build their professional skills and to be really patient,” says Stanton, recalling when someone bought him a zucchini the size of a baseball bat. “We have to teach folks that we might be able to buy that once and then we’ll tell you to stop, but if you’re selling to a grocery store and you do that, they’re not going to buy from you ever again.”
