New Roots: 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.
The three focuses of New Roots in Salt Lake City are...
Community Gardening
The Community Gardening Program secures plots for refugees 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 help secure an abundant supply of produce for each refugee. 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. This year, the Community Gardening Program is working with over 120 families in 11 garden sites across the Salt Lake Valley.
If you would like to learn more about the Community Gardening Program, please contact community garden program coordinator, Sarah Adams, at Sarah.Adams@Rescue.org.
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 the direct selling 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 are expanding to the Draper farm site where they are working to expand into new markets. Training and technical assistance is given to over 36 farmers from countries as diverse as Sudan, Burma, Bhutan, Chad, Somalia and Burundi.
You can find New Roots produce and meet the farmers at the Sunnyvale Farmers Market every Saturday from June to October, at the New Roots Farmers Market at Central Park on Tuesday evenings from July to September, and at the Liberty Park Market every Friday night.
Food Access: Farmers Markets
New Roots operates two farmers markets in Salt Lake County, which are an affordable fresh food resource for residents in areas with low food access. The multi-vendor market specializes 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.
The Sunnyvale Farmers Market operates every Saturday, 12-2pm, from the second week of June to the second week of October 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 New Roots Farmers Market at Central Park operates each Wednesday evening, 4:00 to 6:30 pm, from July to September at Central Park, 2797 South 200 East, South Salt Lake, Utah, 84115. The New Roots markets offer local produce and a honey vendor, Bee-Craft Consult.
The New Roots Farmers Market at the IRC office also operates on Wednesdays from 4:00pm to 6:30pm. July- September. It is located out front of the IRC office at 221 S 400 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.
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 gained state funding support during the 2019 state legislative session. Funds are administered by the Utah Department of Health.