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First-generation farmer works to sow future for young growers of color

Roberto Meza left a full-ride scholarship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became a farmer on Colorado's Eastern Plains.

Cole Sullivan

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Published: 6:13 PM MDT October 11, 2022
Updated: 6:13 PM MDT October 11, 2022

Roberto Meza smiled as he surveys his crops. His weekly haul of basil, arugula and peas had finally fallen into a farmer's routine of growing, harvesting and selling — but it took years to get here.

As a first-generation farmer of color and an immigrant, Meza struggled to grow his dream into the farm it is today.

"It's really, really hard for new farmers to gain access to capital — let alone land — to start their own operations," he said. "As a farmer of color who wants to get involved in this, there are so many more hurdles and challenges we have to jump through."

Again and again, loan officers denied Meza and his business partner money for their sustainable microgreens farm.

"It was infuriating," he said with a bitter laugh. 

Meza said he now has a strategy to help other new farmers avoid the same challenges — one that gives him a market for his greens, provides local food to the community and helps the next generation of farmers sow their future on Colorado land.

"We gotta support young farmers," he said. "It matters because it's all we have."

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