Through foundation grants, our partners at The International Rescue Committee established the MicroProducer Academy to support refugees and students with ties to the land.
Interns learning from a local bee keeper on how to check on a hive and the importance of pollinators.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihood are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their futures. In more than 40 countries and in 25 U.S. cities, our dedicated restore safety, dignity, and hope to millions of families in need.
Each year, the IRC helps thousands of refugees who have been granted sanctuary in the United States to rebuild their lives. As part of the IRC’s broader resettlement efforts, the New Roots program enables refugees who have agrarian backgrounds and farming expertise to reestablish their ties to the land, celebrate their heritage, and nourish themselves and their neighbors by planting strong roots—literally—in their new communities.
Through a grant from the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, the IRC has created a MicroProducer Academy that is empowering immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs in nine cities across the country with a specific focus in Dallas, Oakland, Seattle, and Atlanta. Each participant is putting their agricultural skills to work by growing culturally diverse and affordable produce in their new American communities. In addition, IRC has also developed a food justice curriculum for youth in four cities to cultivate the next generation of conscious growers and consumers.
Impact Statistics