Since 2010, Global Growers Network (GGN) has supported more than 300 refugee and immigrant farmers across a network of nine farm sites, growing fresh food for their families and local marketplaces. But after losing its primary production facility to a destructive flood and after leasing land for a decade, GGN needed to establish a permanent home for the group’s farmers.

The Conservation Fund invested in Global Growers Network’s expansion by acquiring 21.2 acres of prime farmland, including native habitat that supports plant and animal biodiversity. GGN will host 15 smallholder farmers with numerous amenities ideally suited to a shared farming model. Immigrant and refugee farmers will preserve and share multicultural farming traditions and foodways and will produce culturally relevant foods for local marketplaces. GGN will also create a hub for agricultural education, capitalizing on the outreach opportunities of the site with school groups, agritourism and food-focused events.

Using a Buy-Protect-Sell model, the Working Farms Fund is making the farmland affordable for GGN while providing the organization a patient pathway to farm ownership.

Farmer Vision

Global Growers Network is building and sustaining a network of land, resources, markets and people to create a more equitable food system driven by cultural diversity, inclusive economies and regenerative agricultural practices. GGN envisions a cooperative farm sharing multicultural traditions and foodways that create new markets for farm products and a vibrant and inclusive agritourism destination celebrating global food cultures.

By the Numbers

• 3x expansion of farmers served at this farm site
• 15 culture groups represented by farmers
• 21.2 acres permanently protected farmland
• 3x increased farm revenue projected in five years