When Fatima Abdelrahman learned that the organization running New Roots Community Farm — a widely celebrated neighborhood garden in City Heights — didn’t have an active lease on the property, she was as much confused as distressed.
Then she got an eviction threat.
Founded in 2008 on city-owned land, the farm has provided a space for refugees from around the world to ground themselves and build community around diverse farming practices and crops. New Roots Community Farm is broadly recognized as part of a groundbreaking project — even attracting a visit in 2010 from then-first lady Michelle Obama — that has helped spawn several more similar farms throughout the U.S.
Abdelrahman has played the role of an ambassador to New Roots for nearly 15 years, from hosting a group of UC San Diego researchers to speaking at the Mingei International Museum. She shares her life’s story as a way to help others understand the importance of the farm.
But in recent months, the farm has been embroiled in a dispute that has fractured one of San Diego’s most diverse communities. Abdelrahman and other farmers, who pay fees to tend plots, say the City Heights Community Development Corp., or CHCDC, should do more to improve the infrastructure at the farm. They’ve also taken issue with the organization’s managing the land without a valid lease.
Now, farmers are attempting to form a nonprofit of their own and seek a lease with the city. But an attorney assisting Abdelrahman says they have been met with resistance.
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