The IRC in New York's New Roots Farm and garden comprise a green oasis where community members, including IRC clients, come to learn about horticulture, taking advantage of low-priced and free food, and how to start their own garden. Our workshops have been around since New Roots began in 2013 and have become a platform for our community to share original recipes and embrace cultural food memories. We’re particularly proud of our community chef healthy cooking demonstrations at our weekly markets every Saturday from July to October. 

In partnership with Just Food, our New Roots Chef Training Program provides participants with thetools, training, and expertise to begin agricultural entrepreneurship. To date, the program has over 40 alumni. From October 2025 to September 2026, our 4-day training program will be divided into 4 cohorts of 12 participants each. Participants gain practical experience leading cooking demos that showcase local, seasonal fruits and vegetables by using these foods in culturally rich meals that cater to each participant’s culinary preference.  

Program participants develop crucial communication and leadership qualities intended to enhance their professional skillset. Our participants can further work with over 30 organizations IRC in NY partners with that aim to bolster agricultural entrepreneurship through technical assistance, education, and collaboration. 

Emily’s Path as a Farmstand Manager & Steward 

One valued member of our New Roots community is Emily, the Farmstand Manager and Steward at one of our NY farms. 

Emily began tending to the garden in 2019 with her mother, Estela, when she was just 12 years old. Estela began bringing Emily to New Roots nearly every week, and while the visits felt routine at first, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic gave them new meaning. Distributing fresh produce during such a difficult time deepened Emily’s connection to the farm and its mission. She became a Farm Steward, learning how to grow, cultivate, and preserve the various crops.

A year later, she began helping out as a Farmstand Manager, learning about the various produce, helping to distribute food, and interacting with the public. Her mother, Estela, is still an active participant and cherished member of the New Roots family and has been one of our Community Chefs for years. One of Estela’s specialties are her Purslane Quesadillas (recipe shared below), something she makes using traditional Mexican food crops that she grows herself at our farm site. Emily notes that one day, she hopes to visit her mother’s hometown of Guerrero, Mexico, to see where her mother grew up, and experience their local dishes.

Over time, she discovered a genuine passion for the work and the impact it had on her community, a passion that continues to draw her to support the farm. Today, Emily helps track food deliveries, monitor stock, assist with events, guide volunteers and students, and care for the garden itself.   

“Being part of New Roots has been a blessing, I have a community, people who saw me grow literally and metaphorically and they are my community and my family.” - Emily   

Over the years Emily has become a familiar face at New Roots. Being an active member of the New Roots family has enabled Emily to “come out of [her] shell” and allowed her to become more confident. 

How Cooking Demos Complement our Market 

At New Roots, the IRC in NY uses cooking demonstrations to spark excitement about the produce available at our weekly market. Chefs draw on their own culinary traditions, using ingredients from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Market as well as offerings from partners like the Catskill Agrarian Alliance. Each CSA share includes a New Roots recipe card, created after cooking demos, that guides participants in preparing healthy, delicious meals with seasonal produce. 

As Emily’s experience highlights, the cultural wisdom shared in these cooking demos never goes unappreciated. Estela’s demonstrations—alongside those led by chefs from diverse cultural backgrounds—opened Emily’s eyes to the unexpected ways plants can be used, a common takeaway from our workshops. To her surprise, she discovered that Devil’s Claw, a weed she had long seen her mother remove from their garden, can actually serve as an herbal supplement to help reduce inflammation.  

Help Keep the Program Going 

When resources allow, New Roots Community Chefs receive a modest stipend for their efforts, an important support that strengthens participants’ economic stability and professional growth. Even small stipends make a meaningful difference, ensuring that income is never a barrier to joining this vital work. 

Your generosity can help sustain these stipends and keep our culinary workshops, cooking demos, and markets thriving. Emily and Estela are just one example of how the New Roots community fosters intercultural and intergenerational connection. With your support, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and friends and neighbors can continue to grow, learn, and bond together.