Generally, when you think of an urban farm connecting to its community, what images come to mind?  An organic farmer's market set in the heart of a thriving city, cornered on all four sides by traffic zooming past the fresh produce brought down from the rooftop garden or hauled in from farms in outlying areas?

Zenger Farm is proudly challenging that illusion from its position in an area called Lents on the far outskirts of Portland, Oregon.  The urban farm is a solid 15 minutes outside the city, halfway to the neighboring town of Gresham, and yet it operates within its immediate surroundings in much the same way its contemporaries do at the city's bustling center, with a weekly farmer's market, a community table, cooking classes and opportunities for neighbors to convene over food and celebrate their local pride.  Thanks to Portland-based food writer Anna Brones, SXSW Eco's "Food Anthropology" session attendees were turned on to Zenger's charms, and it's starting to create a bit of a buzz.

The group describes itself as "a working urban farm that models, promotes and educates about sustainable food systems, environmental stewardship, community development and access to good food for all."  And it uses the term "all" literally; the truly notable thing about Zenger Farms is its dedication to working with immigrant families with limited incomes, some of whom may not speak English fluently, and it's been doing so for the past six years.  

Thanks to operations like this one, the concept of urban farms and their services only being accessible to city dwellers with the means to pop downstairs for a Saturday treat is slowly broadening to include low-income, ethnically diverse populations too -- many of whom infuse their own cultures' flavor into the healthy recipes that end up being shared across and between neighborhoods as a result.  Now, if that's not delicious, we don't know what is.