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The food is local. The story is global.

As an essential part of the broader resettlement efforts by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City, the New Roots program enables refugees to celebrate their heritage and nourish themselves and their neighbors by planting strong roots—literally—in their new communities.

New Roots is about healthy families, secure communities and a more sustainable future. It’s about dignity, determination and the boundless possibility of human connection. And it’s about the power of people to heal and nurture positive change from the ground up.

In 25 U.S. cities, the IRC provides resettled refugees with the assistance they need to survive and thrive. New Roots is helping them to establish a strong future for themselves, their communities and our world.

About New Roots

New Roots seeks to build a healthier community through the development of small scale, urban farms and community gardens in Salt Lake City. Accessing affordable and nutritious food can be a challenge for families in Salt Lake City. One of the primary goals of New Roots is to provide the communities with access to fresh, local, affordable, and culturally appropriate food.

New Roots is a program of the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Community Gardening

The Community Gardening Program secures plots for refugee families at community gardens throughout Salt Lake City and collaborates with partners such as Wasatch Community Gardens, Promise South Salt Lake, the City of Millcreek, Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility, and Salt Lake County to develop new gardens in high-need areas. New Roots provides seeds, seedlings, and instruction on best gardening practices in Utah to ensure participating gardeners have the best chance to enjoy an abundance of produce throughout the growing season. The vegetables grown in these gardens help provide supplemental food for participants that is nutritious and easily accessible. New Roots brings gardeners together to share their agricultural skills and connect with their new home and community. Currently, the Community Gardening Program is working with over 140 families in 13 garden sites across the Salt Lake Valley.

If you are interested in participating with your own garden please submit a Community Garden Application.

Micro-Training Farm Program

With two farm sites leased through Salt Lake County—Redwood Road, a two-acre farm site in West Valley City, and Wheadon, a 13-acre farm site in Draper—New Roots provides refugee farmers with the opportunity to grow and market a variety of crops. Through direct sales of produce to consumers, the farmers are able to achieve greater economic independence by earning supplemental income for their families. The Redwood Road Micro-Training Farm provides large plots of land for farmers to cultivate, building their capacity to earn additional income. New Roots’ most advanced farmers move to Wheadon Farm when they are ready to expand to new markets, such as the CSA or wholesale partnerships. Between the Redwood Road and Wheadon Farms, over 36 farmers—from countries like Sudan, Burma, Bhutan, Chad, Somalia and Burundi—participate in training and technical assistance throughout the year.

You can enjoy produce grown by New Roots farmers at the Sunnyvale Farmers Market every Saturday from June to October, and at the New Roots Farmers Markets on Wednesdays 4-6pm from July to October.

Produce is also available for purchase through the New Roots Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which is a weekly vegetable subscription that delivers fresh boxes of local, seasonal produce to a pick-up site near you throughout the growing season.

Food Access: Farmers Markets

New Roots operates three farmers markets in Salt Lake County, which are an affordable fresh food resource for residents in areas with low food access. The multi-vendor markets specialize in specialty crops, common in countries around the world, but difficult to find in the U.S. It also provides New Roots farmers a venue to sell and market their produce. All New Roots markets are open to the public and a resource for all community members to access.

The Sunnyvale Farmers Market operates every Saturday, 10:30am-1:30pm, from June 17 to October 14 at Sunnyvale Park, 4013 South 700 West, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84123. Each week, you will find free lunch for kids, a food pantry, locally grown produce, prepared food vendors, kids activities and much more!

The Redwood Farmers Market operates every Wednesday, 4:30pm-7:00pm from June 21 to October 18 at our Redwood Farm, 3005 S Lester St. West Valley City, UT 84119. This site serves as a farmers market, as well as a pick-up site for our CSA program.

All New Roots Farmers Markets offer a 1-to-1 incentive match to customers eligible to receive EBT/SNAP. When a customer spends $30 at the market they receive an additional $30 for free, in the form of tokens that can be spent at the market, for a total of $60 in purchasing power!

Utah Double Up Food Bucks is a program administered by the Utah Department of Health.