Isha Echols, Rick Lattin, Rya Kirby, Mary Ferguson, Michael (Mojo) Tchudi, Joe Ferguson, Jana Vanderhaar, Keli Brown, Elizabeth Balmin, John Hadder, and Marshall Liddle.
Leslie Allen
Leslie Allen
Leslie Allen is the Commercial Horticulture Program Coordinator at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. “I moved to Nevada in 2003, and quickly fell in love with the simple beauty of the Great Basin. I am an avid naturalist, and studied ecology in college. It wasn’t until recently, when I read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, that I really began to understand the full impact of conventional, industrial agriculture on our people and the environment. I strongly believe in the positive link between healthy food and healthy people, and the link between healthy farming and a healthy planet. I am committed to building the capacity of our local food system, and I am excited to help strengthen GBCFC’s role in a robust local food system.”
Derek Brown
Derek Brown
“I’ve been active with the co-op (and, before that, Sound & Fury Records) for about a year and a half. I live in a house that is offered up as a venue for shows/ community events. We also do the food gathering & preparation for Reno Food Not Bombs out of the house, serving this food to the area’s homeless and hungry twice a week. If you’re interested in helping out, food preparation takes place at 528 Sinclair St. at 10am every Sunday, and we serve at 12noon at Fisherman’s Park on Galletti and 3pm at Barbara Bennet Park On Arlington.”
Nick Hinz
Nick Hinz
“I Moved to the Reno area in 2001 for graduate school at UNR. Currently, I work as a research geologist at UNR where I make geologic maps, study the tectonic and volcanic history of Nevada, and work with the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy. Previously, I’ve worked on watershed restoration projects in northern California and as a bike mechanic in many localities. I love the outdoors, traveling, cycling, and most importantly eating fresh, in-season, locally-grown food. We are very fortunate to have the GBFC as a source for obtaining fresh local food in our community along with our CSA and farmer’s markets. I’m excited to be involved with fostering growth of our co-op through working with our board members and greater co-op community.
Barbara Greene
Barbara Green
“Hi, my name is Barbara Greene and I moved to the Reno area 1 year ago from Washington State. I retired from a 27 year career as a Lieutenant with the Olympia Fire Department. I currently live in Washoe Valley with my husband and our big yellow lab. We have two great sons aged 20 and 23 who live in Seattle and San Francisco. The last 14 years we have lived on a 5 acre farm near the Hood Canal that I certified organic in 2002, through the WSDA. I raised poultry for eggs and meat, dairy goats, sheep, Galloway beef cattle, apples, stone fruit, grapes, vegetables, flowers and herbs. A small diverse farm designed along Permaculture lines with Biodynamic leanings that was also Salmon Safe Certified. Over the years I have served on my local farmer’s market board, The Tilth Producers of Washington board, been elected as Fire Commissioner for Black Lake FPD, and helped start a very small local food buying club. I love growing plants and raising livestock. I believe we each have the responsibility to consider how our food choices impact the planet and one another. Towards that end, I work to educate those who are curious, about how our food is produced and the connection between our food and the environment. I am honored to have been elected to serve on the board of the GBCFC and look forward to helping build our community!”
Melissa Kent
Melissa Kent
“I live and work in Washoe Valley as a caretaker and writer. My husband Dale and I have a cookbook coming out in March 2009, Tassajara: Dinners and Desserts– collection of vegetarian recipes from Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the retreat center where we lived for 7 years before moving back to Nevada. I am part of the Monday veggie crew and serve on the Board as the Worker Collective-Board liaison. I believe that clean, safe, healthy food is not a privilege but a right and am excited to help build a local food movement in the Great Basin.”
Laura Fillmore
Laura Fillmore lives with her husband and four children in Dresslerville, Nevada, and teaches K-12 art at Smith Valley School. She is pursuing a graduate degree in discipline-based art education, and is one of the founders of Responsibility.Earth.Art.Learning. (R.E.A.L.), an organic gardening, arts, and literacy collaborative in east Reno. An activist artist, she is originally from Missouri, where she grew up with a grandmother who was an organic gardener and who “never broke the organic chain”.
Philip Moore
Phillip Moore
“I began exploring sustainable living and sustainable food after my son was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies. The tie between the industrial food system and my son’s allergies was too obvious to ignore and led me to explore other facets of our lifestyles and how they could be modified to make them more healthful and sustainabl. This led me to begin working in local food with a passion. I worked with the local chapter of the Sierra Club on their sustainable food program and helped to organize the local food system network in Reno. I believe that having a year-round outlet for local and sustainable foods is a critical part of developing a sustainable community. I have been working on the board of the GBCFC to make that vision become a reality.”
Launie Gardner
Launie Gardner
Launie Gardner teaches English and government at TMCC High School. She has previously served on the Rainshadow Board of Directors and looks forward to another opportunity to work with and support her community.
Casey Robbins
Casey Robbins
“I was raised in San Diego and have always had a love and respect of the outdoors in its natural state. I moved to Lake Tahoe as a young adult which only increased my appreciation for the outdoors. My hobbies include skiing, biking, snow shoeing, hiking and kayaking. I have done a great deal of volunteer work over the years primarily with teens. This included camp counselor for the YMCA, big sister at a home for delinquent girls, to teaching and promoting concerts for a church youth group. I have over twenty years of management experience, primarily in the casino industry. My passions for the last few years have been growing in nutritional health and environmental issues, which through Earth Day Events led me to the CSA last year and in turn to the coop when it opened. I have been actively involved with the coop for one year on various committees as well as working in the store on Mondays. I have a genuine desire to see the coop succeed and believe in its community building potential.”
Marcia and Steve Litsinger
Marcia and Steve Litsinger are the owners and operators of Churchill Butte Organics in Lyon County, Nevada. They have lived on their 40 desert acres for over 25 years and have been operating a Certified Organic 30 member CSA since 1998. The Litsinger’s farm is completely off-grid, powered by solar energy and fed by a well and spring located on the property. They cultivate just under an acre of land for organic production using the French-intensive method. For this reason, they consider themselves Market Gardeners, though they are widely known in Northern Nevada for being pioneers in the state’s organic farming community.
Marcia is responsible for the horticulture aspect of the business, as she grows a wide variety of organic vegetables, herbs, native plants, and flowers. Steve operates the marketing, financial, and maintenance side of the business. Together they have worked tirelessly in the community to educate consumers on organic food issues, organic gardening methods, and sustainable living practices. They have participated in school gardens, farmer’s markets, various workshops, and Marcia holds the position of Vice-chair on the Nevada Organic Council. The Litsingers are deeply devoted to organics and work hard contributing to the public’s understanding of sustainable agriculture for the health of the consumer, the environment, and the community.
Kelly Reuss
Kelly Reuss
Kelly is an applied kinesiologist resides in Floriston, North Lake Tahoe CA currently. She graduated from the C C C District in 93 with her CMT and AA and received multiple honors programs appointments such as assistant professor for human Anatomy Physiology at OCC and S.C.U.B.A.assistant at GWC in 79 at 15 years of age. Dr. Kelly practiced in Big Bear Lake CA from 2001-2004 and was naturally attracted to snowboarding where she was introduced to the 4 season sports capital of so-lo-Cal high altitude training and living. Dr. Kelly continues to be a professional lecturer and teaching assistant to multidisciplinary groups providing CEU’s for medical professionals and, various community and int’l associations. She also began more volunteer work with local people and businesses like the snowboard of directors position and various commiitees at the Great Basin Food Co-op.
