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Transplanting Traditions Community Farm
The Wei Family’s Story
When Ree Ree and her family first resettled in the US from a refugee camp in Thailand, they were provided with frozen pizzas and housed in an area without any Asian grocery stores around. “In Thailand we raised farm animals and grew vegetables in our backyard, but here we had to drive 3 hours round trip to get traditional Asian vegetables, which was confusing for a 9 year old to understand why we had to go to another city just to get food,” said Ree Ree, incoming TTCF Executive Director and daughter of TTCF farmers Zar Ree and Lion Wei. The best solution for their family was to start farming again in North Carolina. Zar Ree and Lion Wei joined Transplanting Traditions and started with 4 garden beds and 2 CSA customers. Today Zar Ree supports 58 CSA members on her 1 acre plot and her farm income has allowed her to purchase school supplies for her kids, send money to family members in Thailand and Burma, and provide hard-to-source Asian vegetables to her community.
“My dream goal is for BIPOC and low-income communities of all ages to be able to have access to affordable, healthy, and cultural food at home,” said Ree Ree. "This starts with giving farmers the resources they need to adapt farming skills to new climates and to create a cultural oasis like we have at Transplanting Traditions.”
Expanding the farmer network in 2022
Many families from Burma like Ree Ree’s bring with them a wealth of agricultural wisdom and a deep desire to reconnect to their cultural heritage of farming, but they just need the tools to adapt these skills to US settings. Transplanting Traditions’ Business Development program provides refugee farmers with:
farming land and supplies,
business promotion and advertising,
produce transportation and delivery services,
accounting services,
English language classes,
tailored agricultural education, and
a space for farmers to collectively deepen their connections with their agricultural traditions
In addition to helping current TTCF farmers expand their businesses, TTCF’s goal in 2022 is to expand the network of farmers in our Business Development Program beyond Orange County to serve many more families like Ree Ree’s and to support them in passing on agricultural traditions for generations to come.
Together we can sow seeds of resilience, educate farmers, power the movement for economic justice, connect communities to healthy food, and strengthen and empower farmer leaders. Would you join us in Cultivating the Network of refugee farmers in North Carolina by making a one-time or recurring donation?
| Measurement | Value |
|---|---|
| Goal Amount | $10,000.00 |
| Raised Amount | $23,604.23 |
| Total # of Donations | 148 |
| Average Donation Value | $159.49 |