We can do it right here

This fall, Mai Houa joined the HAFA staff as a packing assistant. She helps the Hmong farmers in HAFA’s Food Hub pack their produce and sell them to schools, retailers, wholesalers and other institutions.

She never thought that she would be a farmer, but two years ago, she began helping her husband and in-laws grow produce at the HAFA Farm. She also helped her in-laws sell it at four different Twin Cities farmers markets and found that she liked talking to people. Now she’s thinking about farming her own plot at the HAFA Farm or going to school for culinary arts.

“Right now Hmong elders tell the kids that they should get an education and a higher paying job. They don’t want us to farm. The older generation farmed in Thailand and Laos. They farmed a lot but made just a small income.”

“But at the same time, the younger generation doesn’t know how happy you can be when you’re working in the fields or washing vegetables that you grew yourself. If young people don’t look into farming or food jobs, all the land will probably go into buildings, and robots will serve us plastic food…If we want to stay alive (I really recommend it), we can do it right here.”