Help St. Louis Plant More Trees

New American Farmers in the Saint Louis area are working on a sweet grant that could win the International Institute Global Farms a fruit tree orchard. Communities Take Root is an annual program sponsored by Edy’s Fruit Bars to provide a source of fresh fruit by planting fruit tree orchards in commendable communities throughout the United States. Beginning April 15, The International Institute of Saint Louis is inviting you to cast your vote for our Global Farms to help our community blossom. Visit www.CommunitiesTakeRoot.com to cast your vote once a day, every day, until the end of May.

The communities with the most votes will receive a fruit tree orchard. Planted by the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to planting fruit trees to support healthy nutrition worldwide.

About Global Farms:
The International Institute Global Farm Initiative is an agriculture-based career training program for refugees with two training locations: the North site, a community garden at Hodiamont and Plymouth Ave. and the South site, an incubator farm in the Botanical Heights Neighborhood. The goal of our agriculture job training program is to provide refugees who desire a career in agriculture with a variety of educational opportunities intended for replication in their own farming endeavors. This job training program is a low-cost alternative for our new American farmers and a means to economic self-sufficiency.

Farmers come from a variety of countries including Burundi, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Somalia. These new Americans will be guided through an intensive season of growing and marketing produce which will contribute to their individual careers as farmers. After completing the program at Global Farms South, the refugees who wish to make farming their career will be eligible to apply for a loan from the International Institute's Economic Development Department to lease or buy their own land for farming. Each year, the program accepts 30-40 new farmers into our intensive job training program, many of which will graduate into apprenticeships on production farms or acquire their own land for farming.

You can get involved in our exciting initiative:

• Visit our booth at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market and purchase produce from our clients. (May-October)
• Refer eligible clients, refugees with a history in agriculture, who are interested in continuing to farm, by contacting AmeriCorps Farm Specialist, Zach Otte, by email: ottez@iistl.org or call (314)773-9090 ext. 157
• Learn about partnership opportunities with the farm by contacting Global Farms Coordinator, Whitney Sewell, by email: sewellw@iistl.org or call (314)773-9090 ext. 134
• Volunteer and internship opportunities