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Project partners:
June 2023 – present
Vegetable starts being trimmed. Photo credit: Emilie Chen
The Resilient Food Futures Microgrants are an offering of the larger Resilient Food Futures project, our work across the Portland Metro Region and Oregon to strengthen the long-term viability, resilience, and leadership of underserved producers.
These microgrants are intended to increase the capacity of urban farmers and other producers for growing food, medicines, fibers, or commodities or for expanding their growing operations and to increase their capacity for implementing climate-friendly or conservation practices that improve soil quality and increase their resilience to a changing climate, if funding is not currently available through existing USDA programs.
2024 Microgrant Awardees
A total of $75,000 in microgrants was awarded to these Portland-area farm businesses:
ahlain wa sahlain! i am iman labanieh and the syrian farmer + herbalist behind baylasan botanicals. my ancestors are rooted in damascus + aleppo, syria, and i was raised by the lands of the Tongva (orange county, ca) and Huichin Ohlone (oakland, bay area). i’m currently a guest on the lands of the Clackamas, Chinook, Cowlitz, and many other peoples who make up the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. along with running baylasan botanicals, i am a care + cultural worker, a fierce dreamer, intention setter, pisces (x4), aspiring dj, and kitty parent.
i have always had the desire to heal and be healed. i found farming and plant medicine in the twisty turny ways that life often works. my journey into healing work began during my teen years, where i interned and volunteered in different community mental health programs. i received degrees in ethnic studies and psychology from the university of california, berkeley before working as a counselor with system-impacted youth in the bay area. yet, i found myself and my work stifled by the limitations of the non-profit industrial complex and the accepted modes of healing in western medicine. it was during this time that i was delving into learning about my ancestral plants + their medicines, and making healing teas and concoctions for myself and my community.
Copihue Farm is a Portland-based veggie farm focused on soil health and community. When possible, we center Chilean and South American crop varieties.
Kasama Farm is a queer, Pilipinx-American-led land, healing, and love project on Wasco and Wishram land in Hood River County, Ore.
A space where queer, trans, BIPOC people can find nourishment and show up in their wholeness.
An intergenerational space to reclaim cultural relationships our ancestors had with plants and plant medicines.
A healthy social environment that is energizing to the soul and honors ritual, creativity and joy.
A community-based and community-supported project.
A space filled with the laughter of children, songs and prayers of our elders, and the many colors, patterns, and sounds of our people.
Lomita Farm is based in Gresham, Ore. and is stewarded by Gonzalo Garcia Reyes. His vision for the farm is inspired by his family’s legacy as Indigenous Zapotec farmers in Oaxaca, Mexico. Through a weekly CSA share model, Lomita Farm distributes culturally significant foods to dozens of Latinx and Indigenous families each year.
Momma Nature’s urban farm is a Comprehensive Health Equity Movement (CHEM) innovation hub partner growing organic food for BIPOC and low-income communities in the Portland metro area. CHEM GlobalCampus is an international network of high-tech CHEM ASTEAMM® innovation hubs that pair best-in-class agricultural operating practices, scientific research, and technological advancements with academic curricula, enterprise development, and community reinvestment initiatives.
Mora Mora Farm is a one-acre, mixed vegetable farm in Troutdale, Ore., established through the Headwaters Incubator Program. We grow over 100 varieties of fresh, seasonal veggies, with a special focus on both Pacific Northwest classics and beloved Asian heritage varieties. We host a thriving CSA program, partner with local restaurants, and work closely with nonprofits addressing food insecurity around Portland.
At Mora Mora, we’re all about healthy soil and sustainable practices. We use compost, cover crops, and minimal tillage to boost soil life and create a thriving ecosystem. Our farming methods go above and beyond organic standards, and our intensive growing practices allow us to maximize production on a small space. We are committed to maintaining a productive and healthy farm system that benefits both the soil and our local community.
Bria Phillips’ journey with Orange Pippins began in 2017, inspired by gardening adventures with her then three-year-old son George. What started as a seed company creating curated gardening kits for young explorers has grown into a multi-faceted business, with her seeds now delighting gardeners in stores nationwide. Having caught the microgreens-growing bug during the pandemic, in 2024, Bria expanded into urban farming. After a successful first season at Portland’s Shemanski Farmer’s Market, her commitment to nurturing both plants and community has earned her a USDA FSA Urban Agriculture Microgrant. The grant will help Orange Pippins expand into Portland’s world-class restaurant scene and launch its first-ever microgreens CSA program. “Whether I’m hosting planting events with children or providing chefs with unique microgreens,” says Bria, “my mission remains the same – spreading the magic of growing and building connections through food.”
We reclaim and celebrate the heritage and wisdom of Black-African matriarchal cultures by weaving ecofeminism, cooperative economics and care into the fabric of modern agriculture, land stewardship, and culinary artistry.
Dorian Campbell, owner of Otter Paw Herbs believes in the regenerative power of Black folks reconnecting with the land. Otter Paw Herbs is committed to producing herbs and herbal products that nourish and support our community without the use of harmful herbicides or pesticides.
Patchwork Gardens, a network of six gardens in Southeast Portland, is a volunteer-led and operated learning and production-oriented organization. The guiding intentions for Patchwork Gardens is to provide BIPOC access to culturally significant food and to make space for the practice of and communal education of both sustainable farming practices and indigenous food sovereignty.
Microgrant Applications
The 2025 microgrants application will launch this fall — please check back soon. Email fsamicrogrants@ecotrust.org if you have any questions.
Partners
is a collaboration hub for Black and Brown communities that exists to ignite BIPOC communities to participate as owners and movement leaders within food systems, placemaking, and economic development.
equitably serves all farmers, ranchers, and agricultural partners through the delivery of effective, efficient agricultural programs for all Americans.
serves the changing needs of Oregon’s diverse agricultural and food sectors to maintain and enhance a healthy natural resource base and strong economy in rural and urban communities across the state.
advances sustainable agriculture, resilient community food systems, and the long-term viability of Oregon’s small and mid-scale farmers and ranchers.
is the nation’s first directly elected regional government and serves more than 1.7 million people in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties whose boundary encompasses Portland and 23 other cities region wide.
works to develop and implement local, culturally appropriate programs to address a wide range of health disparities among the Black/African immigrant and refugee communities throughout Oregon.
Ecotrust Project Team & Services
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