Mass. program started partly by Sept. 11 pilot turns refugees of war, genocide into farmers

Massachusetts program turns refugees into farmers

DRACUT, Mass. — A program started partly by a pilot killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has been quietly teaching modern farming techniques to refugees of war, famine and genocide to help them integrate into American life.

The 12-year-old New Entry Sustainable Farming Project has trained about 150 farmers so far on land along the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border.

The Tufts University program was launched in 1998 with the help of John Ogonowski, the pilot on American Airlines flight 11 who was killed on Sept. 11.

Organizers say the refugees have slowly replaced the area’s aging farmers and put land back into use that has been idle for years. The refugees supply the region’s farmers markets and ethnic stores with beets, egg plant, Asian spices and other produce.