Bordertown

Joseph Kiefer grew up on a small-diversified family farm in the Hudson Valley of New York State. As the oldest son of six kids his farm chores with cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and a mean old rooster, taught him much about caring for the land and being a farmer. He received his M.A. in Social Ecology from the Institute for Social Ecology in Plainfield Vermont in 1980. In 1982 he was asked to be part of a Community Task Force on Hunger with the Central Vermont Community Action Council in Barre, Vermont. As a result of this quiet crisis he started a Garden Science / Hunger Education Program with local schools. At the Main Street Middle school a Garden Lab of raised bed gardens, small fruits, fruit trees and a compost was set up with a bed dedicated for the Emergency Food Pantry. This Task Force quickly learned that this dramatic increase in demand for emergency food was being experienced around the state and decided to investigate starting a Food bank for the state. In 1986 Joseph Co-founded the Vermont Food bank. In 1985-86 he served on the Governor’s Task Force on Hunger attending six regional hearings around the state. Upon completion of these projects he cofounded Food Works with a mission to address the root causes of childhood hunger by starting school gardens and food education programs. In 1997 Food Works teamed up with Shelburne Farms and NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) to start VT FEED (food education every day). In 2006 Food Works helped launch the first Food Bank farm in Vermont growing exclusively for emergency feeding sites in the state. At Food Works Joseph was the Director of Education and offered professional development courses and workshops to teachers, food service staff and community organizers on how to grow, process, cook and store locally grown foods. He has taught at California Polytechnic University at Pomona, California, Trinity College, Goddard College, The Union Institute, The College of St. Joseph and Johnson State College and Castelton University all in Vermont. He is a co-author of “Digging Deeper” A comprehensive Guide to School and Community Gardening and “Living Traditions” Teaching Local History Using State and National Learning Standards. Joseph now works as a Food Justice Consultant working with the Good Food Good Medicine Program at Highgate Housing and Green Acres Housing, the Vermont Community Garden Network as well as the Vermont Rural Partnership. He serves on the Boards of Just Basics Inc. in Montpelier and Highgate Housing in Barre Vermont, as well as on the cross cutting Food Access Team of the Vermont Farm to Plate Group. He lives with his wife Amy and their two dogs Chester and Molly on the White Dove Herbal Sanctuary in East Montpelier.

The Good Foot Project – “We left everything in Los Angeles and started down the road to sustainability. This is our Story.” On April 28th, 2013 Anastasia King and JC Jarris began a year-long expedition, by RV, across the USA visiting low-impact organic farms and eco-villages to learn best practices in sustainable farming, construction, energy, water and waste management. This trip is to educate and prepare them for establishing their own sustainable, low-impact, eco-retreat and training center.

Lisa Mase, of Harmonized Cookery is a whole foods cooking educator, food writer, translator, and herbalist, living between Italy, Vermont and New Mexico. LIke many people she imagines a time where people relied on their neighbor and food and medicine came right from the local region. Unlike many people, Lisa lived this life as a young girl growing up in the mountains of northern Italy. In a thoughtful and practical way, Lisa explains the role food plays in our individual health, community resiliency and cultural heritage.

Ben Graham is an architectural designer by trade with a B.Arch from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is also a third generation woodworker and housebuilder, learning homebuilding first-hand from his grandfather. He is a partner in New Frameworks, the Natural Design Build company located in Burlington, Vermont. Ben has been at the front of developing the natural building movement in Vermont and the Northeast since 2000 as a professional contractor and an organizer for the Network of Natural Builders in the Northeast. His advocacy work has brought him attention in books, newspapers, TV and conferences.

Cara Robechek is the Executive Director of the Vermont Energy Education Program, whose mission is to build a deep understanding of energy through education, encouraging choices that result in sustainability in our communities, economy and environment. Cara has been with VEEP since 2014. Cara has worked in nonprofit development and managemen at the Center for While Communities in Waitsfield, served on the board of Planting Hope, as an elected Parks Commissioner for the City of Montpelier, and as a member of the Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee. She has a BA in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College, and an MS in Renewable Natural Resources and Development form the University of East Anglia. She lives in Montpelier with her husband and two children.