Edible Blue Ridge Summer 2022

Above: Chef Mitchell Bereens (Lampo) prepares New Roots squash blossoms. Previous page: Bir Guiaba & SamTamang hill potatoes

the types of food that you want to eat, so they’re trying to grow things you can’t get at an Ameri can grocery market: the traditional crops that are grown in their homelands and are part of their cul ture,” says Allan. “By having access to those foods, they are able to maintain their culture through their food ways, and are able to teach their chil dren their culture as well.” Not only does New Roots provide refugees an outlet for maintaining their food culture, it helps share those cultures with the greater Char lottesville area. In 2016, New Roots launched the Micro-Producer Academy — training participants in how to grow to meet commercial food safety standards in the U.S. After completing the pro gram, the growers were connected to local chefs in the area. “ ere is a tremendous amount of care and love that they put into their food, and that’s kind of the same way, you know, that I like to cook, so it’s really been a great match to try and help one another out,” says Chef Adam Spaar of Orzo Kitchen & Wine Bar. “It felt really good to be do

ing something that benefited the community, where I could see it helping people that needed it.” Orzo was one of the first restaurants to purchase from the micro-producers, and is an avid support er. “In the beginning, there was a ton of produce I hadn’t had access to before. ey brought rattle snake beans, Kermit eggplants, bitter melon, purple long beans … even dahlia tubers, which I had never tried before. ey grow a bunch of different things that hadn’t been available to me from farmers in Vir ginia,” says Spaar. “It touches so close to the foundation of what we are trying to build here,” says Emerson Ross, head chef at Tonic. “Anything we can do to keep our money in the community and assist other people as they try and build their own business is something we focus on.” Chefs place orders via text messaging, as it is the easiest way to communicate when there may be a language barrier. At the end of each season, the chefs, growers, and New Roots program coordina tors debrief, discussing what grew well and what chefs could purchase more of if it were made avail

Top: Deo Rai. Above: Benjamin Maheshe tends to his birds at the New Roots garden near Azalea Park. Below:Tonic’s Ceci alla Nerano using New Roots produce: Photo by Shenandoah Imagery

18 | EDIBLE BLUE RIDGE SUMMER 2022