New England Grassroots Environment Fund
New England Grassroots Environment Fund PO Box 1057 Montpelier, VT 05601 Telephone: 802-223-4622 Fax: 802-229-1734 Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)Nuestras Raices (MA)
In This Section
Quick Facts
Contact: Daniel Ross
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Location: Holyoke, MA
Issue: Food Systems & Sustainable Agriculture
Sub-issue: Community Gardening
Web site: Go to website
Group Resources
Nuestras Raices Farm Plan
Holyoke Environmental Justice Maps
Group Details
Nuestras Raíces is a grass-roots organization that promotes economic, human and community development in Holyoke, Massachusetts through projects relating to food, agriculture and the environment. Nuestras Raíces currently manages 8 community gardens and two youth gardens, and plans to expand the network of gardens each year. Urban agriculture has proven to be an effective way to promote community development because it is a way for the residents of downtown Holyoke to maintain a connection to their culture while putting down roots in their new home. Projects based on agriculture, such as markets and community gardens, build on the skills and knowledge that participants already have, and are proud to have the opportunity to use to improve their community and to teach to a younger generation.
The group’s successes include managing 8 community gardens and two youth gardens, a feature on community gardening in the Boston Globe, the launch of RootsUp Green Jobs Program, being selected for a Harvest Award from the Glynwood Center, and winning the Lewis Mumford Award for the Environment.
The group, located in Holyoke (MA), received its latest NEGEF in June 1999 to manage a mini-grant program to involve youth in improving the urban environment of Holyoke through the Protectores de la Tierra (Protectors of the Earth) program.