Friends of Zenger Farms

For 20 years, Zenger Farm has been teaching people where healthy food comes from, how it grows, and the importance of eating it every day. Zenger Farm utilizes a 24 acre combined organic farm and wetland to provide unique, hands-on learning opportunities for youth and adults. We are a working urban farm that models, promotes and educates about sustainable food systems, environmental stewardship, community development and access to good food for all. We seek to train a diverse and inclusive, next generation of farmers. As per the USDA 2017 Census, 96% of Oregon’s principal farmers (decision makers) are white. Racism, colonialism, capitalism and other systems of oppression are deeply tied to the history of agriculture in Oregon and the United States. At Zenger Farm, we believe that this trauma and history must be acknowledged, and the resilience of these communities celebrated and honored, if we are to fully empower our Farm Apprentices in future careers managing the land and its natural resources. Programs which do not directly address this history may fail to create a good learning environment for people who are affected by it, particularly Black and Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and notably Latinx people, especially those who have migrated here themselves, or descended from migrant laborers.