About New Roots

New Roots is a four-year farm training program that began in 2008 as a collaboration between Cultivate KC and Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas. As of October 15, 2025, Cultivate KC has taken over sole management of the program.

New Roots provides training and market support at Juniper Gardens Training Farm to help New Americans develop and maintain small businesses. Farmers are given a quarter-acre plot to grow fruits and vegetables. They bring agricultural expertise from their home country and continue to learn more about growing sustainably in the Midwestern climate.

New Roots helps remove the barriers to starting a small business, including systemic challenges like language, economic mobility, networking, and access to education and financial support. Divided between the growing season and winter classes, farmers are assisted with crop planning and troubleshooting, are provided access to shared equipment, and attend workshops and classes covering topics like record-keeping, marketing, customer recruitment, and more. By their fourth year, farmers have taken on the totality of the business expenses and have experience maintaining customer relationships.

 

Continued Support

Cultivate KC continues to support farmers long after graduation from the New Roots program. Graduate Farmers are assisted finding land to buy or lease. Technical assistance applying for funding opportunities through the USDA, FSA, and other organizations continues in cooperation with Cultivate KC’s Metro Foods and Farm Systems team, and help with farm management consultation and new project ideation remains available.

Currently 49 farm families are supported by the New Roots Program at Juniper Gardens Training Farm. You can support New Roots farmers by purchasing their produce at farmers markets all over the Kansas City region, through the wholesale program, or by subscribing to the New Roots Farm Share CSA.

Sustainable Growing Practices

Farmers participating in the New Roots program and growing at Juniper Gardens agree to follow these growing principles, allowing farmers to minimize the impact of agriculture on the environment while providing healthy produce to Kansas City.
 

 

  • Build Healthy Soil- Employ farming practices like crop rotation, cover-cropping, natural mulching and composting, and manual removal of weeds.
  • Follow USDA Organic Guidelines- Use inputs approved on the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) List of Accepted and Prohibited Substances.
  • Practice Food Safety- Maintain safety and nutritional value by using potable water for crop washing, sanitizing washing and storage areas and making use of cold storage as needed.

  • Reduce Losses to Pests- Mitigate pest damage through crop rotation and diversity, the use of row cover, encouraging presence of beneficial insects and using USDA organic-approved pest controls.

     

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