Our Story
Our story began in 2013 when we joined an agricultural initiative at Pine Island in Colchester, Vermont. As New Americans, our goal was to reconnect with our agricultural roots and cultivate a community where fellow New Americans in Chittenden County could access nutritious, affordable and reconnect with traditional ways of farming.
Like us, many New Americans who resettled in the Burlington area missed the meats and vegetables of their homeland, and we saw an opportunity to provide this. We began by selling goats and growing vegetables that could not be found in nearby groceries, such as special varieties of eggplant, okra and pepper. In 2015, we began raising chickens which provided eggs as well as sought-after meat for traditional dishes. This program was enormously successful and soon we were selling several thousand chickens every year.
This success allowed us to gain the experience and knowledge needed to implement a sustainable chicken farming model. In 2023, we purchased a property in nearby Williston, Vermont to accommodate our growing business and allow us to expand programming opportunities to engage our community. Today, we continue to offer free-range chickens, goats, ducks and vegetables to our wide range of customers.
Our Mission and Values
As New Americans, we understand the power of food to nourish, heal, and connect us - to homelands we were forced to leave behind and homes we are establishing in a new country. Our mission is to be a space where people from all walks of life, and especially New Americans who have been forced to leave their homelands due to armed conflicts, climate change and economic hardships, can access nutritious, affordable food that tastes like home.
We are committed - in our hope, in our mission and in our dedication to the communities and individuals we serve. We believe that everyone deserves access to healthy, affordable food, regardless of their circumstances. Our vision of traditional agriculture: fostering traditional agricultural roots and providing space for new Americans to thrive in their new home. From the beginning, two core values have guided our work:
Community-Driven: Each of our services is born of a need expressed by our community. We work as peers to provide the best products. Our approach is to first listen, then work together to provide healthy, affordable food options.
Sustainability-Focused: In an ever-changing world, whether due to climate change or other environmental challenges, we rigorously assess the sustainability of each of the services we offer and their impact on the land, in order to remain consistent with our services and care for the land that has given us so much. Our aim is to continue acquiring new skills to care for the animals, protect the land and ensure the continuity of traditional farming methods.