strides toward sustainable farming

i stumbled upon an interesting development in the sustainable farming community yesterday. in the past year, a church out in smyrna, tn has partnered with the refugee community in surrounding areas (specifically those from myanmar/burma) to build and maintain a sustainable farm on the church's property.

i am a huge fan of this for a few reasons:

1) sustainable farming--the farm produces crops native to myanmar as well as chile peppers and other vegetables. the refugees receive 10% of the produce and the rest is sold locally or given to food pantries. in my opinion, this is a win-win-win situation.

2) integration of the refugee community--what better way to exchange knowledge and foster a community spirit (that is integral to encouraging sustainable living) than working towards a common goal? these refugees were farmers in myanmar before coming to the US, and they have valuable knowledge of working the land that many americans can benefit from in order to lead more "green" lives

3) steps toward self-reliance and sustainability-- the burmese refugees also grow pumpkins, and they eat everything including the stalk which they strip and then cook. learning new ways to prepare food is a step towards self-reliance which is an important part of sustainable as well as healthy living.

okra in the community garden

chili peppers, which the burmese typically grind up into a sauce

magenta zinnias, for looking

just thought this was interesting! these last three pictures were taken by my parents who went out to the farm last saturday.