Meet Our CAFF Community

Nelson holds over 13 years of experience in small diversified farms working with fruits, vegetables, gourmet mushrooms, cannabis, chicken eggs, freshwater fish, honeybees, and vermicomposting. In 2018 he founded We Grow Urban Farm in West Sacramento, CA. His farm cultivates one acre of seasonal vegetables and fruits for their summer farm stand, community supported agriculture program, local restaurants and food distribution programs. Nelson earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from UC Davis with a minor in ecology. His passion has led him to create ecologically focused farms that play an important role in building a strong regenerative local food system. Nelson currently serves on the Racial Equity Farmer Advisory Committee at the California Department of Food and Agriculture(CDFA) and is part of the 2022 Political Leadership Fellowship with the National Young Farmers Coalition, in addition to serving on the CAFF Policy Committee. Nelson is committed to inspiring and empowering the next generation of farmers of color.

Alexis Koefoed is a California farmer in Solano County. Soul Food Farm has been in operation since 2000. We focus on no till principals to grow olives for oil, flowers and lavender added value products. We also run a farm store that supports the work of over a dozen small family farms. We are committed to regenerative agricultural as the foundation of our farm.

I am third generation in the strawberry farming industry. We are small farmers and also help many small farmers in the Watsonville/Salinas area cool and ship their own berries.

Josefina was raised in the Salad Bowl of the United States, the Salinas Valley. She has a graduate degree in Public Administration, from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Through her work and volunteerism, she has served communities locally and internationally with social justice, equity, and love being at the root of it all. She is passionate about creating stronger connections between people, and is currently working on getting her farm off the ground.

Emma Torbert is the Market Garden manager for the Student Farm and started in September 2020. Before the Student Farm, Emma was one of the founding members of the Cloverleaf Farm, an organic fruit farm, and worked there for 10 years. She received her masters in Horticulture and Agronomy from UC Davis and worked for the Century Project at the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility for seven years after graduating. She worked on organic farms throughout the US and South America, is committed to creating more equitable land access in the US and dreams of starting a co-housing farm one day.

Michelle moved to Sacramento from Central Appalachia in 2004. Michelle worked in county behavioral health and coordinated media and communications campaigns that sought to improve economic and social conditions for rural communities. Here in California, Michelle’s passion for sustainable food and farming practices inspired her run for the Board of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. She served the member-owned cooperative organization for almost 6 years in various leadership positions including Board President. Michelle has more than two decades of progressive experience as a communicator, with the last 12 years working in planning and implementing public policy communications. She also has a lifelong love of home cooking, entertaining, and local food.

Steve has spent 30+ years in nonprofit management, public policy research and advocacy, and management consulting. He’s also a real estate agent, with a special interest in the Sierra foothills near Sacramento (where he hopes to have his own small farm someday!)

Ben is the founder of Sungold Consulting, a consulting firm dedicated to helping farmers, producers, brands, and buyers navigate the complexities of sustainable supply chains and the grocery retail industry. He was previously the Director of Category Management and Purchasing at online grocer Good Eggs and Produce Buyer/Department Manager at Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco. After a decade in grocery retail, Ben has taken on various fractional roles with foodsystems nonprofits, producers, agritech companies, and retail marketplaces through his work at Sungold Consulting, with an eye towards building a stronger ecosystem of values-driven food businesses.

“Farmer Al” Courchesne has been a welcome sight at farmers’ markets around the Bay Area for over 30 years. And just like his peaches, Al is homegrown. He planted his first peach orchard in Brentwood in 1976. Thirteen years later, Al began farming organically in large part because of a commitment he wanted to make to the soil, water and community he lived in. Throughout his farming career, Farmer Al has been a vigorous advocate for sustainable land use, conservation, and organic farming practices. Al lives on the farm with his wife Becky, their two daughters Maddie and Millie, and their ever-present dog Noci.

A native of the Jersey Shore, Emily Schwing came to San José by way of the University of South Alabama, where she earned a B.S. in Meteorology (2011). Emily earned her M.A. in Communication Studies at San José State University (2014), focusing on Environmental Communication. Emily joined Veggielution in 2014 and now serves as Public Affairs Director; Emily coordinates Veggielution’s overall communication and advocacy strategy. When she’s not on the farm, she can be found surfing on Santa Cruz or running with her dog Arlo.

Lilian is a first-generation Hmong American born and raised in Fresno, CA. Her family has farmed in the Central Valley for over 30 years. Lilian completed her MA in Cultural Anthropology at UC Santa Cruz and has a BA in Medical Anthropology and Asian American Studies from Stanford University. Her background has included community work combating racial/ethnic health disparities and advocating for cultural competency in medical education. Her current interests include the histories of Hmong agriculturalists in Southeast Asia throughout the 20th century, refugee farming in California, and the futures of small-scale growers in the Central Valley. She is currently a Small Farms Community Educator with the UC Cooperative Extension in Fresno County’s Small Farms and Specialty Crops Program. In her spare time she’s an avid reader, amateur photographer, and the co-founder of maivmai, an online publication for budding Hmong American writers.

Chris currently farms at the African American Farmers of California(AAFC) demonstration site in Fresno, California where he grows fresh vegetables for families in the Fresno area. Chris’ full-time position is with the Fresno Irrigation District as a Water Systems Operator where he has worked for the past 7 years. He has the responsibility of delivering water through the canal systems in Fresno. Chris also enjoys serving the community through various non profits and is the founder of Jesus Is Our Shepherd Ministry Inc, where they offer Transitional Housing to men and women.

Sarah Keiser is an innovative community builder. Through her vision and leadership, she develops and implements community grazing cooperatives and collaborative land stewardship projects for more resilient communities. Under the banner Wild Oat Hollow, LLC, Sarah’s community-based, sustainable land stewarding concepts empower private landowners and public entities with the skills and support to use grazing ruminants, planned burns and community education to steward their land and commons to a healthy fire ecosystem. As we continue to see large, annual wildfires in California and throughout the west, Sarah has expanded her collaboration to policy makers, fire marshals, Cafire, RCDs, NRCS, UCCE and Indigenous Fire Ecologists to build out regional land stewardship projects.

Judith Redmond is an emeritus member of the CAFF Board. She spends her days as a farmer at Full Belly Farm in northern California, and as a volunteer for a number of community organizations including CAFF. She is currently involved with organizations like California Climate and Agriculture Network; U.C. Davis Ag Sustainability Institute; and AGree (Transforming Food and Ag Policy). She is a Fire Commissioner with the Capay Valley Volunteer Fire Department and on the steering committee of the Annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival hosted by Full Belly Farm.

Coastal Roots Farm is a nonprofit Jewish community farm and education center. We cultivate healthy, connected communities by integrating sustainable agriculture, food justice, and ancient Jewish wisdom.  On the Farm, we prioritize techniques that build and maintain soil and sequester carbon, not just to grow great food but also to contribute toward a solution for the larger problem of climate change. Much of our farming approach is consistent with practices established by the first peoples of this land.

Central to the Farm’s work is our commitment to reducing community hunger by growing and distributing fresh, organic produce and eggs to those most marginalized, inspiring environmental stewardship through high-quality farm-based educational programming for youth and adults, and fostering a healthier, more vibrant, and inclusive community and a more sustainable future for our region.

Anna is a fifth-generation family farmer, stewarding 80 acres in Southern California. She is the Food Hub Director at Old Grove Orange, the farmer-pioneer in California’s Farm to School movement. After 10 years off the farm and 5 years at an investment bank, Anna now works to help small to mid-sized farmers find ways to keep farming forever. She earned a B.A. in Financial Economics from Columbia University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Charity May is the Founder and Principal of Sacred Futures, an advisory practice that guides partners in the reimagining, designing and implementing of governance, leadership and ownership models, sustainable growth strategies, and financing vehicles to cultivate renewal and reciprocity between human and more-than-human worlds. Charity is a systems designer, writer and advisor, supporting the governance and strategic development of funds, projects and businesses committed to building towards a regenerative economy.

Scott grew up on a family farm in South Dakota. During college, the farm was foreclosed and sold to a large farming group which plowed up acres of native prairie for one large conventional corn field. After moving to California, Scott started a 2.5 acre urban farm in Riverside CA. Today, he serves as the co-chair of the Riverside Food Systems Alliance, board member of the Riverside Food Coop, serves on the Grow Riverside conference planning committee, Sherman Indian High School Agricultural advisory board member, and is serving on the California Farm to School Working Group with the CDFA Office of Farm to Fork and works as Riverside Unified School District Food Hub Coordinator.

Deirdre Holbrook has worked in land conservation for more than a decade, inspired by her love of the land, farming and food. She worked with leading land trusts pioneering agricultural conservation programs including Marin Agricultural Land Trust, and today with Sonoma Land Trust. Prior to that, she served as a communications consultant for Straus Communications with clients including CAFF, Rodale Institute and U.C. Davis. She earned a B.A. from U.C. Santa Cruz and an M.A. from Northwestern University.

Dawnie Andrak, board chair, is co-owner of Local Roots Food Tours, offering culinary diplomacy experiences. She graduated in 2017 with a Master of Arts, in the inaugural class of University of the Pacific’s Food Studies program. Dawnie is also a graduate of our Food Literacy Academy, as well as a graduate of the Center for Land Based Learning’s Farm Academy, a program for beginning farmers. Dawnie also founded and currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Capitol WebWorks, LLC, an internet consulting firm specializing in political, governmental, association and nonprofit, and public affairs communications.

David Visher has been helping small farmers succeed for 30 years. He is serving his third term as a CAFF Director. Visher built a produce distribution company, farmed 60 acres of specialty crops, and spent nine years with the University of California Cooperative Extension Small Farm Program where he worked directly with farmers and institutions to help small producers in business and marketing. Leaving academia he founded a successful firm that created educational opportunities for farmers and ranchers about business and marketing, strategic planning, and agritourism. Returning to the UC Sustainable Agriculture Program he was a Values Based Supply Chain Analyst for five years. Along the way he has directed seven NGO’s, and since 2002 served as a consultant for the USAID Farmer to Farmer (F2F) program 17 times in 12 countries.

Donald Sherman, CAFF member and owner and operator of Sherman Produce Market, grows on about 10 acres of leased land in Kerman, California. He’s driven by his lifelong vision to grow food for his community. Donald works with our Farm to Market and Food Safety teams to help grow his market opportunities.

Mountain Bounty Farm is an 18-acre family farm and independent grower located high on the forested contours of the San Juan Ridge near Nevada City, California. We grow an incredible diversity of vegetables, fruits and cut flowers for our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, wholesale, and local farmers market. Our farm is owned by John Tecklin and Angie Tomey, and operated by a dedicated team of farm managers. Each year we welcome 5 interns to join our crew and share in the experience of farming. 2021 will be our 24th year in production.

Hope Sippola formed Fiery Ginger Farm with Shayne Zurligen in 2016.They remain committed to showcasing sustainable farm practices while growing both diversified veggies and pastured chicken. They visit school cafeterias regularly to inspire kids through Meet a Farmer day. In 2022 they opened Spork Food Hub to help local farms distribute their produce.

Miguel Avendano of Siembra y Cosecha Farms runs his own farm business while working alongside partners to tackle hunger in his community. By partnering with local and state organizations, he’s made his operation a key part of emergency food distribution programs reaching schools, families, and organizations in Tulare County with culturally appropriate food especially for rural regions comprised of farmworkers and other immigrant and under-served communities.

Patricia Miller works with Centre Plate LLC helping to run an aggregated CSA for local farmers. Previously she worked as Community Engagement Manager with Edible Schoolyard Project based in Stockton, California. She is a co-founder of the Black Urban Farmers Association (BUFA) of Stockton, former Director of Special Projects for PUENTES and a retired Senior Community Service Officer for the Stockton Police Department. She migrated from San Francisco to Alameda and then Stockton as she was drawn to agriculture in the region and has lived and participated in food systems and economic development work for more than twenty-five years.

Bob Kuang operates Bob Kuangs nursery in San Martin where he grows Asian leafy vegetables (Bok Choy, Yu Choy, Gai Choy, Ong Choy and Tong Ho). Bob sells mainly to grocery stores and restaurants, which was a challenge at the beginning of the pandemic as restaurants and stores closed for a period of time or adjusted their hours significantly. CAFF was able to award Bob through our first round of pandemic grantmaking in the fall of 2020.

Dominic Bruno is the General Manager of Garden Farms in Knights Landing, CA. Garden Farms is a diversified operation specializing in rice, sunflowers, melons, wheat, alfalfa, hybrid seed and other crops. In addition to farming Dominic has also worked on many conservation and mitigation projects for a variety of species also in the Sacramento Valley. Dominic also serves as a board member on the Yolo Land Trust and is a graduate of California Agricultural Leadership Program Class 46.

Michael O’Gorman began farming in 1970. In 1990 he got asked to manage the first certified organic farm in Salinas, California. Over the next 20 years he helped build three of the country’s largest organic vegetable operations, converting 6,000 acres of prime farmland into organic production throughout California, Arizona and Mexico. In 2009 he founded Farmer Veteran Coalition, the nation’s leading organization helping military veterans find healing and viable careers on America’s farms. Michael now divides his time between helping his brother on Trinity River Farm, twenty acres of fruit and vegetables on the land he was born on, and advising new farmers.

Gowan Batist was born and raised on the Mendocino Coast into an agricultural family. She studied metal fabrication and sustainable agriculture in college, and farmed in Portland, Oregon on a 150-acre farm before returning to Mendocino to manage the Noyo Food Forest, Fort Bragg Unified School District’s farm-to-school program. During her three seasons as manager of the Noyo Food Forest program, she began composting spent grain from North Coast Brewing Company as a hobby. The hobby became a mission and a career, and Fortunate Farm was founded on 40 acres co-owned by North Coast Brewing Company in 2014.

Maria Catalán’s farm is located in Hollister, CA, where she runs her family business growing fruits and vegetables for her community. CAFF partnered with Maria to host a Dia de los muertos celebration on her farm, raising funds for her farm and bringing together members of her extended community for a special cultural celebration. Maria works closely with our Farm to Market team.