Emily Cohn is fundraising
Help Bring Refrigeration to Grow North Farm!
Help our farmers extend the life of their produce and increase sales by bringing refrigeration to Grow North Farm!Grow North Farm opened in 2019, as a partnership between Anchorage Community Land Trust (ACLT) & Catholic Social Services’ Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services program (RAIS)! Grow North Farm is a 28,000 square foot urban farm in the heart of Mountain View that is an incubator space for local food and emerging entrepreneurs.
The Farm is home to over 20 neighborhood farmers, hailing from Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Sudan, Somalia, the Congo, Mexico, and other countries. Nearly all of our farmers are women from the refugee and immigrant community, with a mix of RAIS clients and independent farmers, all of whom are learning the ins and outs of operating their own farming and food businesses. The Farm provides them land they can call their own to grow produce in their home community, and sell it directly on-site through a daily farmstand model. Many of our farmers have barriers to traditional employment. Farming allows them to utilize their agricultural knowledge and skills to operate their own produce business, and earn an income for their families.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! Our farmers don’t currently have refrigeration on-site. For new farmers, refrigeration can mean the difference between profitability and not making ends meet. Produce starts to deteriorate as soon as it’s picked, and especially in warm temperatures, that can happen quickly. This means produce life is short, and harvesting and sales must happen daily. This can lead to costly post harvest loss. Bringing a walk-in refrigeration unit to Grow North Farm will mean:
· Our farmers can harvest crops advantageously, and gain hours back by not having to pick daily
· Harvested produce can stay fresh until it is ready to be sold, extending the life of the produce and ensuring none goes to waste
· Farmers can then increase sales, and ensure they are earning the maximum for their products and labor
If ACLT raises $5,000, we can build a walk-in refrigeration unit on-site THIS FALL, extending the farmers season and ensuring more year-round sales. We have already put $8,500 into bringing electricity on-site, and have worked with a walk-in refrigeration company to ensure the lowest-cost option for our farm (photo below). All we need is YOU! Every $1 counts, and every $10 donated is a new batch of produce able to be harvested and sold.
We believe these farmers are the next generation of business owners and resident leaders. Let’s help them get to their second year of owning and operating their businesses with refrigeration!
For more information on ACLT, RAIS, and Grow North Farm, please visit www.anchoragelandtrust.org/grow-north-farm/.
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