URBAN FOOD STORIES

“Both of my grandparents are farmers, so I saw how they grow and eat food from our land; vegetables, even milk from goats, cows. I had a little chicken farm in Bangladesh when I was a third- or forth-grader. I loved it!

But when I came to America in 2004 and I lived in New York, I didn’t see those things, I never think of America having these types of things [farms and livestock]. We were thinking America was a dream country and that money just flies on the air - but it’s not really true!

When I was in New York, we were eating frozen food or would buy really expensive fresh food in grocery stores. I couldn’t find any kinds of vegetables I was used to. When I moved into Boston and Somerville, I was looking for a job, and I was volunteering with The Learning Center. I asked for a part time job. Since I am from Bangladesh and had some experience with agriculture, I was sent to talk to the manager of Shape Up Somerville’s Farmers Market. I started working with the Market in 2011 and I’m still with it and I love it.

I knew some friends in the community who had plots at the Community Garden at Mystic Housing Development and the past couple of years I shared a plot with someone who ended up leaving. I was able to take over her plot. So I started my own in 2014. It’s not too big but it’s enough for my family and I have some extra; I give out some to my friends and sometimes I sell my own food at the Market. I’m really enjoying it. I’ve improved my health; I’m diabetic and have high blood pressure and it helps me a lot.

I usually grow vegetables from my home country. I grow squash; all different sizes, you can find some that are 10 pounds! I grow callaloo, red callaloo, chili pepper, spinach, different kinds of beans. Boston has some convenience stores that sell the kinds of vegetables I know from Bangladesh, but there’s a green squash that is sold at the Farmers Market, which you cannot find at any grocery store here. I mostly shop for groceries at a local convenience store, they have some groceries like vegetables, fish, and halal meat. Every day I prepare vegetables and fish. We eat meat, but not as much as before.

Most people at the community garden grow the types of vegetables from their home countries that they love to eat. A lot of people grow a green, bitter squash. They have some flowers too; rosemary and sunflowers. I think flowers help to protect the vegetable plants.

I just shared some squash plants with a woman who got a plot this year and she loved them. Some people’s gardens are really beautiful and I ask them how they grow so well and what types of plants they’re using. We share plants and sometimes people come and give me seeds and plants. You can do that here.

In Bangladesh, my grandparents grew everything, rice in a big field, and all kinds of vegetables, they even had cows and goats. We had fish in our big pond that people could catch and eat fresh. Our most common dish in Bangladesh is rice, fish, and vegetables. I never worked on the land in Bangladesh, but I saw how my grandparents grow, so when I found the garden I was excited! Now when I work on the garden I feel like I’m in Bangladesh almost.

It’s easier for me to cook Bengali recipes now than before I started at the garden. When I first moved here, it was really hard, I couldn’t eat any food here because I wasn’t used to it. Everything here is frozen, even chicken and meat. We couldn’t find halal meat. We used to go to New York City because they have a big Bengali community so sometimes we would buy lots of things from New York, freeze it and eat for two months. But when I found this community, it felt like I was in Bangladesh."