SUN JOURNAL • December 23, 2020
Since 2017, a group of African immigrants has leased 30 acres of land off outer College Street to operate a cooperative farm. Their dream of owning the land they painstakingly developed over the past four years received a major boost when they received word that they are the recipient of two grants totaling $80,000. With the two gifts, the New Roots Cooperative Farm fundraising goal of raising $200,000 to purchase the property has reached nearly $120,000. New Roots Cooperative Farm is securing farmland for Black, immigrant farmers in Maine, and providing a space for the Somali Bantu community and the whole Lewiston-Auburn community to increase their economic and food security.