Liberation Farms puts food justice into action. It empowers new American families to grow healthy, culturally meaningful food. By reconnecting with their agricultural roots, farmers nourish both body and spirit while building new lives in Maine.
Liberation Farms puts food justice into action. It empowers new American families to grow healthy, culturally meaningful food. By reconnecting with their agricultural roots, farmers nourish both body and spirit while building new lives in Maine.
Liberation Farms’ mission is to promote food security, livelihood development, community building and intergenerational connections by empowering immigrant farmers through access to land, agricultural resources, and technical assistance.
Liberation Farms envisions a productive and welcoming space for community members to gather and have access to land, sufficient resources to farm, and healthy, culturally appropriate food.
The Family Farmers program encompasses 20 acres of cropland that provides access to land for over 200 immigrant farmers. With a 1/10 of an acre, farmers have the opportunity to grow produce for themselves and their families, and for sale within the community if they choose. African flint corn, a staple of the Somali diet, is the main crop that Family Farmers grow, interplanted with other culturally important crops like cooking greens, tomatoes, squash, onions, and eggplant. This program supports farmer autonomy, access to the outdoors and intergenerational exchanges as traditional growing practices are passed on from elders to youth.
Iskashito, a traditional Somali cooperative practice of farmers cultivating a piece of land and equitably sharing the profits of their combined labor, inspires the commercial grower program at Liberation Farms. Iskashito farmers receive land, technical assistance, seedlings, tools, and marketing support. The Iskashito program highlights the farm’s mission and encourages livelihood development and skill building for participating farmers, while providing fresh, local, high quality produce to those in need. In 2024, Iskashito farmers distributed a total of $160,000 of produce, mostly to low-income communities.
Liberation Farms grows and distributes fresh, local produce to help build strong and healthy communities. We are proud to offer high-quality, chemical-free vegetables, including specialty and rare varieties.
In addition to our wholesale accounts, we are currently selling at the Yarmouth Farmers Market on Thursdays, 3-6pm beginning in May and the Freeport Farmers Market on Fridays, 10am-1pm beginning in June.
Liberation Farms’ livestock operation honors cultural traditions, and increases access to local, halal meat for community members, and provides educational opportunities for raising livestock in Maine. Despite the increasingly high demand by consumers for halal meat, there are few outlets to purchase these products from local trusted sources. Liberation Farms raises goats and chickens to supply Somali Bantu community members with desirable high quality, culturally relevant meat at affordable prices.
All livestock at Liberation Farms is raised on pasture through rotational grazing practices to maintain a high quality of life for the animals, a tenet of halal, and generate valuable manure to increase soil fertility. 10 acres at the farm are permanently dedicated to the goat operation, which include grazing pastures, a slaughter station, and two barns. Although the farm is realistically unable to meet the very high demand for halal meat in the Somali Bantu community, it is working towards the goal of increasing the goat herd through an annual breeding schedule. The livestock program at Liberation Farms partners with the Cumberland County Food Security Council, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and the USDA for technical support, educational opportunities, community outreach, and farm visits.
This program was made possible through community partnerships!
Every contribution, whether time or money, supports the success of this community.
Your donation supports our mission to empower immigrants and refugees in Maine.
Contact us if you are looking to volunteer your time or work with us.
We’ll be happy to answer any of your questions or respond to your comments.
