Eat local. Support refugees.

We are proud to be part of a national movement to rejuvenate local food systems. At Plant It Forward (PIF), we work with independent, professional farmers with refugee backgrounds to grow and distribute fresh produce throughout our community.

Our model combines non-profit and for-profit business structures to advance local agriculture within the Houston region. Each small for-profit business in the PIF network is owned and operated by a new American farmer. As a non-profit organization, PIF seeks to leverage the benefits of working as a cooperative network by providing targeted services to partnering farms, including access to land, agricultural and business mentorship, and access to sales opportunities.

Our work benefits not only PIF’s new American farmers, but also a wider network of regional growers. In particular, the PIF Food Hub serves as a sales outlet for over a dozen regional farms and provides critical marketing services that grow the viability of small farm businesses.

While our work is farmer-focused, our impact extends far beyond agriculture. We are honored to work hand-in-hand with forward-thinking Houstonians who share our ambition to create a more inclusive, green, and healthy community.

History

PIF was founded in 2011 by a family of philanthropic entrepreneurs — the O’Donnells — who wanted to enable the similarly entrepreneurial ambitions of refugees being resettled in Houston. Refugees with agricultural backgrounds are resettled here with few options for finding meaningful, dignified work that utilizes their crucial skill sets. In collaboration with Catholic Charities’ local refugee resettlement office and Urban Harvest, the family worked with a group of skilled Congolese refugees to deliberately craft an urban market farming project.

By 2012, the first round of PIF urban farming training began, lasting one year. By 2015, there were nine farmers each earning a living by managing their own farming enterprise on approximately one-half acre each. In 2016 we were honored to be featured on Anthony Bourdain’s show, ‘Parts Unknown: Houston.’

Today we have 13 farmers operating on eight (8) farms within the PIF network and two (2) additional PIF Alumni Farmers own an independent farming partnership. We are actively working to increase farming opportunities for new Americans in the coming years.