Bandhu Gardens connects Bangladeshi women in Michigan together, along with their families and supplies local produce to restaurants in the surrounding area. Emily Staugaitis started the project which was inspired by her friendship with a Bangladeshi immigrant, named Minara Begum. When she moved to the U.S. with her family, Begum took her garden and cooking skills she had learned in Bangledesh and started a South Asian garden in her backyard. The produce that she grows feeds her family and visitors. The surplus of Begum's garden and the gardens of six other homes is sold to female run restaurants in an effort to not only provide female immigrants with employment, but support female entrepreneurial-ship too.
One day Staugaitis hopes to widen the scope of Bandhu Gardens to create a network among women and their families in Detroit that will help those who are immigrants recieve guidance to navigate the systems of the U.S. like the health care system. Toward the end of the article the author, Dorothy Hernandez, writes that "the current dialogue on immigration and the social and political climate have strengthened Bandhu Gardens' resolve." I hope that this project continues to grow and thrive because it unites people across cultures.
Link to the Article:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/14/519214834/this-garden-connects-bangladeshi-women-with-restaurants-and-each-other
Link to Bandu Gardens Website:
https://foodlabdetroit.com/directory/bandhu-gardens-
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