Neighborhood Farm Initiative

Liz likes working on farms and living in the city, so working with on a farm in a city with NFI's scrappy crew of volunteers is perfect for her. She likes talking about the intersections of food, race and class, and she likes the way growing food tends to build communities. Liz also really likes kale.

Hello! My name is Whit McClure, and I'd like to describe myself through a haiku:

Hails from Kentucky //
Loves her food from seed to plate //
Crazy for earrings.

Kat was raised in and around Chicago and spent a lot of time on her family's farm in Wisconsin. While an AmeriCorpsVISTA volunteer with a regional nonprofit in West Virginia, she got involved with local food efforts and started a community garden and outdoor classroom in her town. She is a seasoned gardener, has experience teaching youth and adults a wide variety of subjects, and is thrilled to work with NFI.

Originally from Mississippi, agriculture has been part of my family's history for generations. After 3 years of working on a small family farm, I am very happy to be with NFI now, helping others empower themselves through learning to grow their own food. My favorite veggies to eat are tomatoes, sweet peppers, and summer squash, and I think I have a talent for perennial herbs. I hope to use what I've learned over the years to increase the accessibility of fresh, local, and naturally grown produce in and around the District.

Abel grew up in Maine and learned about gardening next to the ocean. He also experimented in Worcester, Massachusetts and in the happy hollows of Vermont. He is afraid of melting in the D.C. summer but looking forward to seeing the growing season in a new place. When he has to go inside he works for the Environmental Integrity Project.

Joshua sprouted in a cabbage patch in the mid-eighties. In 2007 he established My Organic Garden, a "full service" organic gardening and garden coaching company. He gardens whenever and wherever he's able and wants to see more people get the organic gardening bug (the good kind).

After growing up in the suburbs of DC, Allison is now excited about living, growing food, building community, and transforming political landscapes in the city. She enjoys working in the dirt out at the Fort Totten site, as well as researching grants and organizing fun fundraisers. She's also looking for tips about pickling, printmaking, and sourdough bread.

Ellie spent her summers in college working on an educational farm in Massachusetts, and she experienced some serious garden-withdrawal when she moved to DC. But thanks to NFI, she gets to spend her afternoons exploring the nuances of urban gardening with a great group of 10 year olds.

Tricia McCauley is an herbalist, nutrition coach, lotion & lip-balm maker, and obsessive gardener. She is passionate about connecting plants and people, and is thrilled to grow leafy green loves with NFI.

Maureen loves all things food. After growing up surrounded by the cornfields of Ohio and trudging through the coastal mountain farms of Brazil, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue a graduate degree in cultural anthropology researching alternative food movements in the US. A teaching job at George Washington University brought her to DC where she put her PhD research on hold and has decided to dedicate her life to growing, learning, eating, cooking, and farming.

Johanna has been volunteering with NFI for over a year and is excited to combine her passion for sustainable farming, food sovereignty, and young adult education with the Green Summer program. Johanna's teaching experience ranges from training teens in non-violent direct action to working as a substitute teacher for DC public schools. Her love for working in dirt began, as any good southern girls should, by picking tomatoes in her grandmother's garden. Since then she's had the incredible opportunity to organize with environmental groups such as Greenpeace International and Rainforest Action Network dedicating her time to combating global climate change. Johanna can't wait to spend the summer getting her hands dirty with young adults from the District.

Jamie grew up working in her family's large organic garden in Vermont, and has made an effort to continue organic cultivation since moving to DC 4 years ago. She is excited to be a part of a growing movement of urban gardeners working to increase the availability of locally produced foods

Foster is a Junior at the University of Maryland College Park studying Agriculture and Environmental Science. He got his start in container gardens in Baltimore and Seoul before starting his first ever in-the-ground type gardens in Maryland and Washington D.C. this past year. Foster is a huge fan of vermicomposting, all plants except for grass, soil, community, food, and urban agriculture. He also happens to know a lot about weed identification.

Sasha grew up in California eating the best avocados in the world. She is a senior at American University studying International Development. Inspired by a field of rice near Bangalore, India, Sasha hopes to study sustainable agriculture in the future. She is excited to explore her newfound passion with DC Field to Fork.

Tommy, a native of the D.C. area, received his Bachelor's Degree in Crop and Soil Sciences from Virginia Tech. He has worked on nearly a dozen organic farms in the U.S. and Europe, including a summer helping to operate a CSA for a small vegetable farm.

A big fan of broccoli, Kelly's passion and love for healthy foods has lead her to pursue a career in nutrition as a registered dietitian and later in public health as a health educator. Her interests are policy, systems, and environmental change related to access and availability of healthy foods...all things NFI!

Andrea is a Masters candidate in American University's School of International Service, Global Environmental Policy program, where she developed a passion for global food and agriculture policy, specifically the area of environment and production technology. Previously, Andrea spent nearly six years working in the legal field where she was able to hone my editing skills and focus on attention to detail - Andrea helped secure NFI's first grant from UDC - AES and coined the name for our program, "DC's Field to Fork Network."

Eugene was first introduced to growing good food as a volunteer with DC's little known treasure, the National Arboretum, at their even lesser known gem, the Washington Youth Garden. Since then, she's been looking for opportunities to work in the sustainable agriculture field: as an intern and independent contractor researching and writing about food and nutrition issues, and now, with NFI, spearheading fundraising initiatives, in particular, grant proposals, as a volunteer. A graduate of NFI's inaugural organic gardening class, she's looking forward to getting her own community garden plot and to sharing her enthusiasm for growing, cooking, and learning about fresh, healthy, and nutritious foods grown sustainably.

Kristina received her BA in History of Europe with a Minor in French from Georgetown University in May 2009. She had previously employed her interests in public green spaces with an internship at the US Green Building Council, where she employed my leadership and organizational skills to support student groups with the objective of making their campus more sustainable. Kristina plans to take her interests in green spaces further by attending graduate school for landscape architecture. She was instrumental in the planning process of DC's 3rd annual urban gardening forum, Rooting DC 2010.

Joy is a recent graduate of the University of Delaware, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Food and Agribusiness Management in May of 2009. Her work at Green America grew her appreciation for local, organic produce as did her time interning at America the Beautiful/NFI. She went on to pursue an internship at the American Farmland Trust in DC.

Jess Mackow was instrumental in planning our August 27th, 2009 Film Screening fundraiser of A Community of Gardeners at the Letelier Theater.