By Katheleen Conti, Globe Staff
Boston Globe (Mass., USA)
September 3, 2006
In his stand at the Revere Beach Farmers Market, Chea Kim of Dracut is snacking on what appears to be a small, elongated melon. The 60-year-old farmer cuts it into bite-size cubes and waits for someone to take the bait.
``What is that?" Arlene Borans of Revere asks as she walks by with her sister, Brenda Sugarman.
``Asian cucumber," Kim, a Cambodian farmer, says as he slices off two pieces and hands them with his knife to each of the sisters.
Borans and Sugarman like it, though the same cannot be said for a leafy sour vegetable known in Cambodia as ``fish cheek," which they both promptly spit out. But the sisters don't seem too upset.
``We like trying new and different things," Borans says.
Originally designed as a way to bring people back to the beach, Revere's first farmers market has become an outlet for local immigrant farmers to market and sell their sometimes-exotic produce. Now in its sixth week, the market is attracting customers who buy fresh, local basics, like corn and peaches, but who also walk away with traditionally Asian or African vegetables.
``I'm selling well today," Kim says. ``I'm selling lettuce, basil, zucchini, chives, cilantro, and water spinach, which is really popular in Asia. I have fun talking with people. People ask me how to cook" the vegetables.
Expanding people's culinary horizons was one of the reasons organizer MaryAnn Zizzo wanted to bring a farmers market to Revere. She didn't just want corn and tomatoes; she wanted purslane, water spinach, sweet potato greens, and bok choy. It was as important to her to use the market to shake things up for consumers of bland food as it was to reflect the local diversity.
``I wanted a multicultural farmers market to accommodate the different ethnic backgrounds in Revere," says Zizzo, of Revere CARES, one of several sponsors. Participating farmers, she says, ``have a variety of ethnic fruits and vegetables. . . . The farmers are coming in with full trucks and leaving with them pretty much empty."
Revere's market arrived at the right time for farmers working with the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, whose organizers were looking to set up stands at more farmers markets this year after participating in only one last year.
New Entry, a Tufts University program, is a nonprofit association that provides training and education to help local immigrants use their farming backgrounds to become commercial farmers. About 40 farmers from Cambodia, Laos, and about a half-dozen African countries participate in the three-year training program at farms in Dracut and Sutton, project director Hugh Joseph says.
``We chose immigrant farmers because these are people who came from rural farming backgrounds," Joseph says. ``Because of the language barrier, and a lot of them don't have literacy, their economic opportunities are limited. So they need farming, and they don't have access to farmlands."
Now in its eighth year, the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project has steadily grown, to the delight of immigrants who can now grow some of their native produce locally, said Suliman Kamara, the project's marketing coordinator.
Kamara, who worked for Liberia's Ministry of Agriculture at the start of the Liberian civil war in 1989, left that country in 2001. After a stint as a substitute teacher in New York, and later in Worcester, Kamara applied to the New Entry project in 2004. Because of his background in organizing Liberian farmers, Kamara was tapped by Joseph last year to fill the marketing position. Since then, Kamara has helped immigrant farmers understand commercial marketing and US agricultural regulations.
``In Asia and Africa, we are less knowledgeable [about] environmental protection, but America is very much concerned about the environment," Kamara says. ``It's a good thing that we had orientations at the school, because you learn about agriculture policies, what you need to do, what you don't need to do, what type of chemical you should apply, what you should not apply, how you treat water."
Most immigrant farmers also have to be taught about the concept of farmers markets, since that is not usually part of African or Asian culture, Kamara says.
``Our program is very instrumental in taking these farmers to a new farmers market setting, show you how to set it up, how to display your produce, and how to sell it."
The farmers do not usually go to Revere's market because most are either farming or working full-time jobs.
At its stand, New Entry features glossy color photos with descriptions of the produce, as well as a couple of voluminous binders filled with recipes. The group also gives away guides describing African and Asian vegetables.
``That helps people make choices," Kamara says.
``A lady came by here just last week and we told her about a sweet potato green, and she told us, `Oh, I have never heard about it.' I took the recipes and gave them to her. She came by today to ask where it is. She said that is the most delicious green that she has ever eaten in her life."
As local palates change, demand for the produce increases. Some repeat customers have resorted to rushing to the market as the farmers set up their stands to beg them for their freshest stock before the crowds arrive.
Although the early birds are a little inconvenient, Kim, who mans his stand with his 14-year-old grandson, Samrech Kim, says he does not mind. He says he chose Revere over Lynn under the assumption that the beach would prove to be a busier spot.
``What is that?" Arlene Borans of Revere asks as she walks by with her sister, Brenda Sugarman.
``Asian cucumber," Kim, a Cambodian farmer, says as he slices off two pieces and hands them with his knife to each of the sisters.
Borans and Sugarman like it, though the same cannot be said for a leafy sour vegetable known in Cambodia as ``fish cheek," which they both promptly spit out. But the sisters don't seem too upset.
``We like trying new and different things," Borans says.
Originally designed as a way to bring people back to the beach, Revere's first farmers market has become an outlet for local immigrant farmers to market and sell their sometimes-exotic produce. Now in its sixth week, the market is attracting customers who buy fresh, local basics, like corn and peaches, but who also walk away with traditionally Asian or African vegetables.
``I'm selling well today," Kim says. ``I'm selling lettuce, basil, zucchini, chives, cilantro, and water spinach, which is really popular in Asia. I have fun talking with people. People ask me how to cook" the vegetables.
Expanding people's culinary horizons was one of the reasons organizer MaryAnn Zizzo wanted to bring a farmers market to Revere. She didn't just want corn and tomatoes; she wanted purslane, water spinach, sweet potato greens, and bok choy. It was as important to her to use the market to shake things up for consumers of bland food as it was to reflect the local diversity.
``I wanted a multicultural farmers market to accommodate the different ethnic backgrounds in Revere," says Zizzo, of Revere CARES, one of several sponsors. Participating farmers, she says, ``have a variety of ethnic fruits and vegetables. . . . The farmers are coming in with full trucks and leaving with them pretty much empty."
Revere's market arrived at the right time for farmers working with the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, whose organizers were looking to set up stands at more farmers markets this year after participating in only one last year.
New Entry, a Tufts University program, is a nonprofit association that provides training and education to help local immigrants use their farming backgrounds to become commercial farmers. About 40 farmers from Cambodia, Laos, and about a half-dozen African countries participate in the three-year training program at farms in Dracut and Sutton, project director Hugh Joseph says.
``We chose immigrant farmers because these are people who came from rural farming backgrounds," Joseph says. ``Because of the language barrier, and a lot of them don't have literacy, their economic opportunities are limited. So they need farming, and they don't have access to farmlands."
Now in its eighth year, the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project has steadily grown, to the delight of immigrants who can now grow some of their native produce locally, said Suliman Kamara, the project's marketing coordinator.
Kamara, who worked for Liberia's Ministry of Agriculture at the start of the Liberian civil war in 1989, left that country in 2001. After a stint as a substitute teacher in New York, and later in Worcester, Kamara applied to the New Entry project in 2004. Because of his background in organizing Liberian farmers, Kamara was tapped by Joseph last year to fill the marketing position. Since then, Kamara has helped immigrant farmers understand commercial marketing and US agricultural regulations.
``In Asia and Africa, we are less knowledgeable [about] environmental protection, but America is very much concerned about the environment," Kamara says. ``It's a good thing that we had orientations at the school, because you learn about agriculture policies, what you need to do, what you don't need to do, what type of chemical you should apply, what you should not apply, how you treat water."
Most immigrant farmers also have to be taught about the concept of farmers markets, since that is not usually part of African or Asian culture, Kamara says.
``Our program is very instrumental in taking these farmers to a new farmers market setting, show you how to set it up, how to display your produce, and how to sell it."
The farmers do not usually go to Revere's market because most are either farming or working full-time jobs.
At its stand, New Entry features glossy color photos with descriptions of the produce, as well as a couple of voluminous binders filled with recipes. The group also gives away guides describing African and Asian vegetables.
``That helps people make choices," Kamara says.
``A lady came by here just last week and we told her about a sweet potato green, and she told us, `Oh, I have never heard about it.' I took the recipes and gave them to her. She came by today to ask where it is. She said that is the most delicious green that she has ever eaten in her life."
As local palates change, demand for the produce increases. Some repeat customers have resorted to rushing to the market as the farmers set up their stands to beg them for their freshest stock before the crowds arrive.
Although the early birds are a little inconvenient, Kim, who mans his stand with his 14-year-old grandson, Samrech Kim, says he does not mind. He says he chose Revere over Lynn under the assumption that the beach would prove to be a busier spot.
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