Pauline Hamilton
Pauline Hamilton
“I was born in Chile and moved to NYC when I was 20. I put myself through college and grad school while assisting the Cultural Attaché of Chile to other United Nations, performing simultaneous translation in the courts, and working as project manager for a couple of interactive software developer companies in the City. After 20 years in the big Apple my destiny brought me to the Biggest Little City in the world. The purpose then, was to relocate my company that supplied the Organic food industries with raw medicinal herbs, spices and veggies. I think that being able to eat fresh, local and organic is as important as the air we breath up here in the Sierras. At the co-op we are being proactive and have taken self responsibility to come up with solutions for developing urban agriculture, bringing in local farmers and offering an ethical and socially responsible way of shopping for natural foods.”
Genevieve Morgan
Genevieve Morgan
Genevieve studied Environmental Policy at the University of Nevada, Reno and she loves all things outdoors. She is concerned with many of the dangerous trends in our current food system, particularly the rise of genetic modification and corporate takeover of family farms. She has a special place in her heart for Nevada farms and would like to do her part to help them prosper.
Melissa and Eric Nixon
Melissa and Eric met 6 years ago in Sonoma County, CA. Since then they have lived in Washington State and Minnesota State where they enjoyed being members of the local food cooperative and a small family owned CSA. While Melissa’s background lies mostly in retail management, Eric has experience working at a food cooperative, small, eco-friendly restaurants, and Whole Foods (the national grocery giant of the natural foods industry). After moving to Nevada, the Nixons became interested in helping to start a member-owned food cooperative reminiscent of the ones they belonged to in other states for many reasons. They are motivated by a desire to fresh, all organic, local food to their family’s table and to participate in a sustainable and responsible lifestyle in order to preserve our natural environment for their children.
Amber and Nicole Sallaberry
Nicole Sallaberry
We are sixth generation Nevadans and the oldest two sisters of seven children. We were born and raised in Reno, NV. Our Basque Grandpa, ‘Itachi’ and our Dad used to keep us busy as kids by making us pick up rocks, push alfalfa bails, and learn how to drive large tractors and industrial farm equipment on our ranch past Bordertown Casino, highway 395 north. We pretty much did everything possible to avoid the ranch work and instead built homes and forts in the bushes that lined the creek along the road that heads up to Dog Valley. Our Mom is a teacher who places a lot of value on learning and education…her stance allowed us to lobby for additional homework hours, which saved us from hours of outdoor manual labor. During our “homework” sessions we often found ourselves plotting out the ideal grocery store, one where everything was in bulk and there was absolutely no packaging. Nicole was badly obsessed with and felt threatened by the world of TRASH. She made sure that she properly recycled everything that she personally used. Anything that couldn’t be recycled or reused she would save and turn into clothes, art projects, or collections. No joke, she had a series of drawers, chests, and clear coffee tables filled with bottle caps, wrappers, empty lighters, wax coated tea bags, and then some!! Both sisters moved up to the Northwest in the fall of 2000. Amber pursued an undergraduate degree at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA where she studied performance art, experimental theater, womens studies, and creative writing. Nicole stationed in Seattle, WA and traveled to and from various permaculture farms in the NW and Canada doing internships and learning how to build Cobb homes. We both learned about and joined our local food co-ops and both sisters became interested in different angles of local food movements and food security issues. In 2003 we moved home to Reno and began growing food and raising chickens at our residence off of Wells Ave. After the second abundant harvest year, we became interested in figuring out how to create an outlet for local and/or urban foods in Reno, NV. Then we met the Nixons and began working on the co-op.
Sasha Verbillis-Kolp
community developer, refugee specialist, organic farmer, a partner in developing the food co-op revolution in Reno!
