FARMER PANEL

Come hear experienced urban and rural farmers talk about what they do and why. Learn how each work in different communities within NYC and grow for food pantries, farmers markets and CSAs. What makes them so distinct and what makes them so similar? Have a question you've always wanted to ask a farmer? Here’s your chance! Throughout the conference you will have the opportunity to submit questions to our farmer panel.

Moderator:  Jessica Cortes
Farm Network Coordinator, Just Food
jessicac@justfood.org

Jessica Cortes joined the Just Food team as Farm Network Coordinator last spring. Her involvement in the food world grew out of her love for nature and the environment. Educating youth about environmental awareness at an environmental center and growing plots with kids at the botanical garden in Queens sparked a curiosity to learn more. As Just Food’s Farm Network Coordinator, Jessica visits farms and provides technical support and assistance to the Just Food network of farmers. Working at Just Food has brought her closer to the source of our food in NYC and closer to what she feels is home and a way of life.

Panelists:

Ana I. Rodriguez Angel, Angel Family Farm
Ana Rodgriquez Angel has been farming with her family in Orange County, New York since 2006. Originally from Mexico, Ana launched Angel Family Farm after taking farm business courses given through GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project in 2004. Her farm has since flourished to what it is now, a sustainable farm providing for farmers markets and CSAs in New York City. It brings Ana peace of mind knowing the farm grows using sustainable practices. She believes in providing a safe product for her family and for the communities she serves.

Yonnette Fleming, Hattie Carthan Community Garden
Yonnette Fleming is an urban farmer, lifelong musician and social change agent who is committed to advancing systems of knowledge which build healthy individuals, families and communities and provide community solutions to the issue of food insecurity, health disparities and social inequities.  Fleming has worked to grow food and advance community resilience to the issue of food insecurity through educating and increasing access to fresh and local food in the Central Brooklyn community since 2003. Fleming’s holistic farming approach incorporates growing food and nurturing humans while revitalizing community spaces.
Websites:  Hattiecarthancommunitymarket.com, bedstuywomensecurity.com, hattiecarthangarden.com

David Haughton, Trinity Farms
David Haughton began farming after high school in 1974 in St. Elizabeth, “the bread basket” of Jamaica. In 1988 David moved to New York to work on a farm. In less than 10 years, David and his wife Trinity were able to purchase their own farm in Ulster County. Purchased on his wife’s birthday, they named it Trinity Farms. The Haughtons have been selling their produce to NYC residents through Just Food’s City Farms Markets for the past 6 years. David loves to farm, from the process of planting and taking care of a crop to seeing the result of his efforts-- food that people want and appreciate.

John Schmid, Muddy River Farm
Born into a family of farmers, John Schmid owns Muddy River farm near Goshen in Orange County, just over an hour from New York City. John started Muddy River Farm in 1994 and has been selling produce at Greenmarkets in the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn. In 2009, John also began providing produce to food pantries through Just Food’s Fresh Food For All program. John loves the change that has come since he began selling in NYC: the stronger sense of communities as well as the blending of different cultures. John loves to be outdoors, whether he’s working his land or selling at markets and building relationships with his New York City customers.
 
Chris Kaplan-Walbrecht, Garden of Eve Farm
Chris and Eve Kaplan-Walbrecht founded Garden of Eve Organic Farm in 2001, dedicated to providing delicious organic vegetables, fruits and beautiful flowers and to “making changes in the world by living them.” Chris grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York. He spent ten years in the world of clean water advocacy, working as an organizer and manager for the nonprofit group Citizens Campaign for the Environment. Chris met Eve in 2000 and together they started a large garden in Riverhead, Long Island which they worked together on weekends. Invited to sell some extra produce (zucchini!) at a local farmers market they made $40 and were launched on their farming career. They now grow 40 acres of certified organic vegetables, flowers, raise 1000 pastured laying hens, and oversee 10 farm apprentices, workers, and a myriad of farm volunteers. Garden of Eve sells produce through an on-farm farmstand, 3 farmers markets, and nearly 1,000 households participating in their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs at 10 locations in New York City and on Long Island. You can find out more about the farm and CSA at www.gardenofevefarm.com.