Nearly nine in ten resettled refugee households endure food insecurity, meaning that they are without “access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.”  Because western New York resettles hundreds of refugees per year, many of them on Buffalo’s west side, we have a unique opportunity to combat refugee food insecurity

Rolston, Dorian

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Refugees, Food Insecurity, and Community Gardens 
Dorian Rolston 
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Refugees, Food Insecurity, and Community Gardens 
Abstract 
Nearly nine in ten resettled refugee households endure food insecurity, meaning that they are without 
“access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” Because western New 
York resettles hundreds of refugees per year, many of them on Buffalo’s west side, we have a unique 
opportunity to combat refugee food insecurity. 
Keywords 
Buffalo, Environment, Food, Parks/Gardens/Green Spaces, Equality/Civil Rights, National Origin, Policy 
Brief, PPG, PDF 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/buffalocommons/103 
 1 
 
POLICY BRIEF                                          August 10 2011                                                 
              
 
 
 
 
Refugees, Food Insecurity, and Community Gardens 
Dorian Rolston 
 
Summary 
Nearly nine in ten resettled refugee 
households endure food insecurity,  
meaning that they are without “access to 
sufficient, safe, nutritious food to 
maintain a healthy and active life.”1  
Because western New York resettles 
hundreds of refugees per year, many of 
them on Buffalo’s west side, we have a 
unique opportunity to combat refugee 
food insecurity.   
 
 
 
Community gardening and urban 
farming can provide nutritious food, and, 
in some cases, income, while also 
educating refugees about life in the U.S.  
and offering opportunities to meet 
neighbors and be active in the 
community.  The benefits of helping 
refugees to garden and farm extend to 
the whole city: beautifying 
neighborhoods, combating crime, 
providing economic activity, and 
supplementing nutrition in Buffalo’s 
“food deserts.” 
 
By learning from local organizations 
such as Grassroots Gardens, Community 
Action Organization, Massachusetts 
Avenue Project, PUSH Buffalo, and 
Urban Roots, and from similar initiatives 
already underway throughout the nation, 
we can decide on policy measures that 
will best serve this end.  These policy 
measures can be divided into three 
groups: 
 
Land procurement/usage.  Use zoning to 
promote gardens and farms; expand city 
limits on plot sizes; permit sale of 
produce. 
 
Education.  English language training; 
business skills; cultural literacy (paper 
work, appointments, scheduling, etc.); 
western crops and growing practices 
(raised beds, square-foot gardening, 
plant varieties). 
 
Funding.  CDBG funding, RAPP grants, 
microloan programs for purchasing 
equipment (bed frames, soil, fertilizer). 
 
 
 
PUSH Community Garden 
Hampshire Street, Buffalo 
Nearly nine in ten resettled 
refugee households endure food 
insecurity. 
   
 
 
 
2 
 
Refugee Food Insecurity in Buffalo 
According to recent research, certain 
minority groups in Buffalo suffer from 
food insecurity despite having access to 
retail food outlets.  One likely reason is 
that accessibility to food does not 
necessarily mean that the food is safe 
and nutritious.2  Many neighborhoods 
are served mainly by corner shops that 
do not offer fresh fruit and vegetables.  
Lack of a car means that many families 
end up shopping at corner stores rather 
than supermarkets or farmers markets. 
 
For refugees, the situation is worsened 
by lower levels of education, lack of 
English language skills, and cultural 
barriers.  Refugees may miss 
appointments for food stamp 
recertification merely because they do 
not understand the significance of an 
“appointment.”  Countless things, like 
the ability to open canned food or even 
to know that a picture on a can reflects 
the contents on the inside, may be new.  
Meanwhile, other truths must be 
unlearned: for example, it is not 
uncommon for refugees to boil perfectly 
safe tap water out of fear of 
contamination, and yet fish in local 
rivers without realizing that there may be 
the toxins in their catch.3 
 
 
 
The Promise of Community Gardens 
and Urban Farms 
Community gardens and urban farms 
can help address these issues of refugee 
food insecurity.  The benefits start with 
fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables.  
Beyond nutritional advantages, refugees 
become more familiar with U.S. society 
by growing western produce, 
exchanging yields, and being active in 
their neighborhoods.  Many Buffalo 
refugees, including a large portion of 
refugees from Burma, are farmers by 
trade or experienced gardeners, and so 
using their agricultural skills can be 
enjoyable, reassuring, and empowering.  
For people encountering the stresses of 
navigating a new city, language, and 
culture, the importance of these positive 
experiences cannot be overstated. 
 
Gardening and farming can also aid 
refugee communities to form a cohesive 
group identity.  Refugees are highly 
dependent on resettlement agencies, and 
often lack a unified voice to advocate on 
their behalf.  Resettlement agencies are 
not always responsive to cultural needs, 
often leaving refugees hoping for some 
alternative to social services with greater 
independence, allowing them take 
control over their new lives.4  Refugee 
communities are extraordinarily diverse 
– different from each other, and 
containing great diversity within a single 
community – but a fundamental and 
historical practice like farming or 
gardening can help bring people 
together.5   
 
Many refugees cite the secular and less 
structured value system of western 
society as a reason to eventually return, 
or at least send their children back to 
their countries of origin.  Given the 
importance to many refugees of the 
family and extended family, gardening 
and farming can provide the opportunity 
to pay active respect to the land and to 
involve children in structured, culturally-
It is not uncommon for refugees 
to boil tap water out of fear of 
contamination, and yet fish in 
local rivers without knowing 
about the toxins in their catch. 
  
 
 
 
specific activities that cultivate the 
parents’ desired values.6 
 
Finally, these benefits extend to the 
Buffalo community at large.  Consider 
Buffalo’s 15,897 vacant lots.
Revitalizing them into farms and 
gardens will beautify neighborhoods in 
ways that improve social atmosphere, 
morale, property values and safety.
Buffalo, vacant lot revitalization by 
groups like Massachusetts Avenue 
Project, Community Action 
Organization, PUSH, and others has 
dramatically improved neighborhoods.  
A staff member at PUSH observes that 
for the Burmese refugees who are 
gardening, their personal fulfillment 
radiates into the community at
combating predudices against refugees 
with their efforts to bring new beauty to 
the neighborhood.9 
 
One Example: Hampshire Street
PUSH is currently running at least five 
community gardens, one of which 
Hampshire Street – is gardened mainly 
by refugees.  Behind the locked, woode
fence one finds 15 plots of 8 by 
each displaying yields in abundance, 
including tomatoes, onions, eggplant, 
cilantro, and even corn.  The majority of 
the gardeners are Burmese, 
garden is their safe haven, a place to 
employ their skills in leisurely, almost 
therapeutic activity, and a place for the 
kids to be supervised outdoors.  It is a 
likely step toward earning their much
deserved respect from the neighborhood 
and feeling integrated in their 
community.10 
 
PUSH’s success is a function of several 
things they learned from their first 
garden, which is on 19th Street.  While 
  
7
  
8
  In 
 large, 
 
– on 
n 
16 feet, 
and the 
-
the 19th Street garden remains active and 
successful, an early attempt to dedicate 
the garden to refugee gardeners did not 
pan out, and it is currently being 
gardened by other neighbors.  On 
Hampshire Street, PUSH first canvassed 
the neighbors to get a sense of what the 
community most wanted for their vacant 
lots – beauty gardens, produce, a 
playground, or something else.  
Receiving much enthusiasm for a crop
growing garden, PUSH had to decide 
who was to get a highly-
soil. Charging a small fee
inspired much greater interest than 
giving the land away for free, as PUSH 
had done on 19th Street.  
 
Other important points included the 
owner’s proximity to the garden; privacy 
and security; size of the plots; proper 
landscaping and general preparation to 
increase yields; and, perhaps most 
importantly, a respected leader in the 
gardener community who can 
communicate important matters from 
PUSH to the gardeners. 
 
 
PUSH Community Garden 
92 19th Street, Buffalo
3 
-
prized plot of 
 for the plots 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
4 
 
Policy Recommendations: Examples 
“Urban farming” refers to larger scale 
operations, generally requiring at least 
an acre of land, in which the farmer 
offers the produce for sale (either as a 
non-profit or a for-profit operation).  
Other cities have embraced urban 
farming and have set precedents for best 
practices of policy design.  
 
Seattle is often singled out as a leader in 
refugee-oriented gardening and farming.  
The ten-acre Burst Farmers Refugee 
Project in south Seattle, in just its second 
year, is very successful – providing 
refugees with an opportunity to become 
financially secure, acquire assets, and 
integrate within the larger community.11  
The city has played a formative role, 
including its “Year of Urban 
Agriculture” initiative in 2010.  This 
initiative focused the city in various 
ways, including using more land for 
growing food; raising plot size limits (to 
4000 square feet); providing 
composting; and allowing revenue to be 
generated from these farms  and 
encouraging sales with “farm-to-market” 
programs.12   
 
 
 
Much of this policy redesign has been 
replicated successfully in other cities, 
often with financial and technical 
assistance from the Refugee Agricultural 
Partnership Program (RAPP).13  In 
Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is 
supporting larger plot sizes for 
community gardens and the permission 
to sell produce, all of which works in 
tandem with an $80,000 RAPP grant.  
Upon visiting a RAPP grant-supported 
farm in San Diego, Michelle Obama 
proclaimed, “It’s a model for the nation, 
for the world.”14  In San Diego, one of 
the major expenses for urban farms – 
compost – is offset by city policy that 
enlists trucks to recycle discarded food 
from restaurants.  For more examples of 
farm-friendly policies, Michael 
Raleigh’s policy brief, “How City Hall 
can Foster an Urban Farming Revolution 
in Buffalo,” offers much information.15 
 
Beyond the infrastructure of the farm 
itself, policies must address the need for 
education if refugees are to become 
functioning entrepreneurs.  The Urban 
Agriculture Program in St. Louis 
outlines its three-year program as 
follows.  Beginning in year-one with 
English language training (focusing on 
relevant terminology), and classes on the 
basics of finances (e.g., making change), 
by the second year the refugees are 
already seeking business 
apprenticeships.  In their final year the 
refugees are able to lease or even buy 
their own plots of land, and the program 
ensures that lack of a credit history is not 
insurmountable.16   
 
Experts note, however, that many 
refugees have much different learning 
styles, and some prefer to simply farm 
without being extensively educated at 
all.  To aid this type of farmer, Seattle 
Tilth created ALBA, a program which 
connects refugee farmers with business 
people who are willing to sell their 
produce at market on their behalf.17 
The ten-acre Burst Farmers 
Refugee Project in south 
Seattle, in just its second year, is 
very successful – providing 
refugees with an opportunity to 
become financially secure, 
acquire assets, and integrate 
within the larger community. 
   
 
 
 
5 
 
Policy Recommendations: For Buffalo 
Many of the reservations about urban 
farming and community gardens are 
ungrounded.  For example, fears about 
the farms being vandalized or about 
attracting unwanted animal life, while 
understandable, are often exaggerated.18   
 
In Buffalo, the City’s land leasing 
agreements generally prevent lessees 
from selling their yield.  If the reason for 
this ban is a fear of soil contamination 
creating unsafe produce, this could be 
addressed by requiring that the soil be 
tested or that the farmer use raised beds, 
as many or most urban farmers and 
gardeners in Buffalo do already.19   
 
 
 
Another barrier is zoning.  Buffalo’s 
code currently does not have a category 
for urban farms or community gardens, 
making their legal status less than clear.  
The fact that Buffalo is currently 
updating its zoning code and turning it 
into a “Green Code” offers the perfect 
opportunity to zone in such a way not 
merely as to tolerate, but as to promote 
farms and gardens. 
 
Once the land is secured, much 
landscaping needs to be done to prepare 
unkempt lots for cultivation.  This 
requires funding through grants, loans, 
and other means.  A basic “cleaning and 
greening” of a vacant lot, including 
adding a simple wooden fence, costs an 
average of $1,250 in Philadelphia’s 
“Clean and Green” program.  Doing 
raised beds, buying seeds and tools, and 
maintaining the gardens adds more costs, 
but, even so, community gardening 
remains one of the cheapest possible 
ways to turn eyesores to assets in a city 
with a steeply declined population.  The 
City’s Community Development Block 
Grant funds are a natural choice for this 
type of program. 
 
These policy measures would be an 
important step toward combating 
depression and loneliness, and positively 
integrating refugees into this new 
movement in the country – not to 
mention the immediate health benefits of 
remedying deficiencies in their diet.   
 
And refugees are only one of many 
groups of people who benefit from these 
initiatives.  Farms and gardens offer 
something for everyone, from the elderly 
– a safe and leisurely recreation – to 
young children – exposure to the natural 
world and healthy eating habits.  
Neighborhoods, especially those in 
dilapidated areas, can have their vacant 
lots beautified and transformed, gain 
economic opportunities, and find 
nutritional provisions to fight against 
food deserts. Beyond caring for and 
empowering our underserved refugee 
community, urban farming and 
community gardening initiatives can 
help revitalize vacant and impoverished 
communities throughout Buffalo.20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
In Buffalo, City land leasing 
agreements generally prevent 
lessees from selling their yield. 
   
 
 
 
6 
 
                                                 
1
 Hadley et al. (2010). Difficulty in the Food 
Environment and the Experience of Food 
Insecurity among Refugees… Ecology of 
Food and Nutrition, 49:390-407. 
2
 Raja et al (2008). Beyond Food Deserts… 
Journal of Planning Education and Research, 
27:469. 
3
 Conversation with Eva Hasett, Executive 
Director International Institute of Buffalo. 
4
 Conversation with Lamis Al Shamaileh, 
Hispanics United of Buffalo. 
5
 Conversation with Dr. Scheider, University at 
Buffalo. 
6
 Conversation with Stephanie Italiano, Jericho 
Road. 
7
 Partnership for the Public Good, “The City of 
Buffalo’s Abandoned Housing Crisis,” 
August 8, 2011, available at 
http://www.ppgbuffalo.org/wp-
content/uploads/2011/01/Abandoned-
Housing-Crisis.pdf 
8
 See Chris Szczygiel, “Greening Buffalo’s 
Vacant Lots,” July 5, 2011, available at 
http://www.ppgbuffalo.org/wp-
content/uploads/2010/07/green-lots-policy-
brief.pdf. 
9
 Conversation with Sean Ryan. PUSH Buffalo 
10
 Conversation with Joshua Smith, PUSH 
Buffalo. 
11
 Follow the Burst Farmer’s Blog here: 
http://burstfarmers.wordpress.com/. 
12
 Conversation with Eddie Hill, Seattle Tilth 
(http://seattletilth.org/). 
13
 For more information on the RAPP grant 
                                                                   
opportunity, see 
http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?mod
e=VIEW&oppId=54864. 
14
 See 
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/progra
ms/ref_agr_partnership_prg.htm. 
15
 Available at www.ppgbuffalo.org. 
16
 See http://blog.sustainablog.org/blog-action-
day-st-louis-urban-farm-provides-fresh-food-
and-economic-empowerment/. 
17
 Conversation with Eddie Hill. 
18
 Conversation with Caesandra Seawell, 
LiveWell Youth Coordinator. 
19
 Conversation with Linda Reiter, Grass Roots 
Gardens. 
20
 Conversation with Larry Laverentz, RAPP 
Program Manager. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
__________________________________________________________________ 
 
 
 
Partnership for the Public Good    
www.ppgbuffalo.org    
237 Main St., Suite 1200, Buffalo NY 14203 
 
 


Refugees, Food Insecurity, and Community Gardens

Nearly nine in ten resettled refugee households endure food insecurity, meaning that they are without “access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.”  Because western New York resettles hundreds of refugees per year, many of them on Buffalo’s west side, we have a unique opportunity to combat refugee food insecurity.Environment__Refugees__Food_Insecurity__and_Community_Gardens.pdf: 49 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

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