August 18, 2008 10:46 AM
The New Farmer Development Project is a non-profit looking for immigrants who were farmers in their home countries to take up farming again, this time here in the New York area. Founded to help supply New York City's growing Green Markets with fresh produce from many cultures, the Project has helped dozens of immigrants learn about what it takes to buy and farm land in the U.S.
There are literally tens of thousands of former farmers in the Tri-State area and a growing demand for produce that just twenty years ago would have been considered exotic. The non-profit group holds a multi-week training program that teaches immigrants who already know how to farm the basics of legal requirements and marketing opportunities.