Vietnamese Americans dream of a new urban farm in New Orleans but fear post-Katrina environmental hazards

High in iron and a mainstay in Southeast Asian cuisine in stir fries, Kokong or Vietnamese water spinach is traditionally grown along the edges of rice paddies. Gardeners in New Orleans East grow it along the canals near Michoud.

Battling the Chef Menteur Landfill

By Kari Lydersen
Colorlines
December 9, 2009

Tung Duc Tran’s backyard is a lush tangle of life. On a steamy New Orleans summer day, Tran, 80, leaves the cool of his small home to stroll under the trellises hung with bitter melons and fuzzy squash shading an assortment of carefully tended crops. The garden consumes the modest yard sloping down to the Maxent Lagoon, a canal whose waters are nearly obscured by an explosion of aquatic vegetation laced with a few old tires and other trash.

Like many elderly Vietnamese American people in the close-knit Versailles neighborhood on New Orleans’ east side, Tran grows his own vegetables to eat and share with friends and neighbors. But in recent years he has felt less confident consuming his produce, because he fears contamination from the lagoon that often spills over onto his land, and in the soil itself, which was swamped by the toxic floodwaters of Katrina four years ago.

Urban farming was key to helping the Vietnamese American community of about 20,000 become among the first to return to flood-ravaged homes and restart their lives after Katrina, with little assistance from government officials. They immediately planted small gardens, even outside FEMA trailers housed on a large vacant lot before moving back into their own homes. It took many months for a grocery store to reopen anywhere nearby, but urban farming provided them sustenance along with a sense of calm and cultural connection in trying times.

Now, because of fears of lasting contamination in the soil and the canals that crisscross the area, community leaders want to open a 20-acre urban farm where they can make sure the soil is safe and create a stable social environment for the mostly elderly farmers. The plan is spearheaded by Father Vien Nguyen, pastor of Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church, and the affiliated Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation (MQVCDC). They have worked with urban planners and architects from around the country and raised considerable grant money to develop a plan that includes a new venue for the popular Saturday market, community gathering spots, free-range livestock, aquaculture and individual plots for about 100 farmers.

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