Kimmie grew up on her family farm in Fleming County, Kentucky. From dairy, to tobacco, to beef cattle this industry has given her many opportunities and life experiences that helped mold her into the person she is today. Throughout college, and now motherhood she has always worked to fight for the underdog. She has worked for over three years in Central Kentucky trying to pass state legislation and learning the ins and outs of our state house. Along with working with state legislators, She has extensive experience in community organizing and working with political campaigns.
Von moved to Louisville by way of Central Florida, where he learned a lot about growing root vegetables and native fruits. He studied at the University of South Florida where he earned a Bachelors in Mass Communication with a minor in Electronic Music and Marketing. After spending a little over a decade in multimedia production; he turned his passion for gardening and husbandry into Kentuckiana Backyard Farms. He is super excited to work on the CFA Podcast and can not wait to share the stories of Kentucky’s farmers with listeners throughout the state.
Tiffany was raised in Waco outside of Richmond, Kentucky where her family raised tobacco and instilled a passion for horticulture. She is a graduate of the National College, obtaining an Associate in Science. Her degree led her to work at a local hospital. During her time there, she decided that the best way she could help her community was to become a local food advocate. She started her advocacy journey by volunteering in local community gardens. Later, Tiffany became part-owner of her childhood family estate and decided to turn it into a space for kids and adults to come and reconnect to the land. She began Ballew Estates, LLC in 2016. Additionally, Tiffany is a dedicated pollinator conservationist, Mother of one daughter, Makayla, homeschool teacher, and community organizer.
Laurie White left her home state of West Virginia to attend Berea College, where she majored in Agriculture and Natural Resources. Before joining the CFA staff in November, Laurie did a little bit of everything at Lazy Eight Stock Farm, including 4 years of selling for them at the Berea Farmers Market. She is excited about bringing local foods to the forefront of economic development in central Kentucky. Laurie is passionate about farms and good homegrown food. When not farming and working on farm promotion, Laurie is involved in the local folk music and dance community. She lives in Berea with her husband and three kids, who all eat very well.
Jennifer grew up on a small farm where her family raised hogs and corn. In college, she was drawn to social work where she has spent much of her career working on food security and housing issues. She has been involved with the Perry County Farmers Market for several years in various capacities including as a volunteer, vendor, and board member. With CFA, she is putting her experience with program development and operations and her passion for food and equitable access to resources to use in growing the local food system. She has a particular interest in ensuring all community members have access to fresh, local food and all farmers can make a living growing our food. Jennifer lives near Hazard where she enjoys baking, sharing food with others, watching the seasons change on her mountain, and hiking.
B is a Kentucky native- growing up between the horse farms of Woodford County and the hills of Lee County. She studied at Berea College where she earned her Bachelors in Peace and Social Justice Studies. B is passionate about the planet, affordable housing, good books, tasty food, nature education- and ensuring everyone has equitable access to all of those things! She is thrilled to be in a position that allows her to give back to Kentucky communities through supporting farmers and increasing access to fresh, local food for all. B now resides in Campton, Kentucky where she is in the very beginning stages of building her dream homestead and community centered farm.
Margie was the manager of the Berea Farmers Market (BFM) from 2013-2017. A native of St. Louis, MO and graduate of St. Louis University, she has spent many years in health-related fields in Missouri, California, and Kentucky. She sees her role with farmers markets as another phase of that health work. Margie firmly believes that creating safety nets for the most marginalized citizens has positive repercussions for the entire community. She is excited to be a part of the program that will create greater access of farmers market food to more Kentucky residents.
Sandra is a native Lexingtonian with strong roots in Madison, County KY. Both of her parents were born in Madison County, and she has generations of family tied to agriculture (both past and present) residing there. She obtained an AA Business Administration, BS Individual and Family Development and MS Vocational Education (college of AG) from the University of Kentucky. She has spent most of her career helping others find their footing by connecting them to resources in the community. Through this avenue she, along with some dedicated friends, established the Woodhill International Market. Her passion for eliminating barriers to fresh, affordable, locally grown produce and reducing food deserts was the catalyst behind establishing the market. Sandra also has a love for everything nature. Her father was a master Gardner and is the driving force behind her love for gardening and helping others, as she witnessed his generosity.
After receiving a B.S. in agriculture from WKU, Jessica sought additional training for international agriculture development work from World Hunger Relief, Inc. in Waco, TX, and Tillers International in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She has worked with limited resource farmers in Liberia, Congo, Peru, and Ecuador to develop appropriate technologies and improve food security concerns in their communities. Those experiences opened her eyes to the need for locally-grown, nutritionally dense, organic produce in her home community of Glendale, Ky. She started a small CSA as a side job in 2014 and began farming full-time by 2016. Her husband joined her full-time on Modern Heritage Farm in 2018. They realized that together they could build a business that could feed their community healthful, nourishing food while stewarding the land in a regenerative way that respects the ecology and biodiversity of the farm. Jessica is excited to join the efforts of CFA in helping small farms thrive and become more resilient while simultaneously building a more equitable food system.
Jamie Fitzwater has spent many years advocating for local food in Somerset, where she resides, including starting a farmers market, a local food retail store, and the Kentucky Green Living Fair. She is also a writer whose work has been featured in Hobby Farms and New Pioneer magazine. In 2014, Jamie was awarded the Crave Civic Agriculture award for her work as a local food advocate in Kentucky. In her spare time, she spends time at home with her family, including four kids, a flock of chickens, and a goat named Marmaduke.
A graduate of UK’s College of Architecture, Martin has farmed his family’s land in Woodford County, been a partner in Pranja Design/Construction, and most recently was the economic development organizer for Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, working on energy and sustainability issues. Martin has been an active member of CFA since he joined in 1995, serving as the board president in 1998. He was the first CFA Fellow during the passage of HB 611 that created the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund. Martin became the executive director of CFA in November of 2010.
Lindsey first learned about CFA during her time as a vendor at the Berea Farmers Market. Her love for food and farming systems of Kentucky and the culture that surrounds them is what brought her to the farmers market; that paired with her love and reverence for community organizing and its potential to create change is what brought her to CFA. She is excited to use her experience and knowledge of both to further CFAs work.
Nancy joined CFA in July 2022. She has spent the majority of her career in a variety of business communication positions including content writing, editorial work, website management, account management, technical writing, adjunct instruction, and grants work. As a grants management specialist for local, municipal, foundational, and federal grants work, she works within all stages of the grant cycle including planning, eligibility determination, writing, reporting, processing, and closeout. She holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Communication and was raised on a beef cattle and tobacco farm in Central Kentucky. Nancy prefers the outdoors and enjoys flower gardening, hiking, kayaking and cross-country running.
Camille holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Berea College. She and her partner reside in Berea with their two dogs and flock of layers. Having worked virtually on all sides of the food system, she has a deep understanding and appreciation for the mission of Community Farm Alliance. Camille owns and operates a small wholesale coffee roasting business, and currently serves on the Berea Farmers Market board. When she is not roasting coffee, she can probably be found wandering the foothills of Berea.
Kris lives in Franklin, KY and graduated from WKU in 2016 with a degree in Geography, Environmental Studies and Climate Change with a focus on Sustainability. They began working at Community Farm Alliance in 2017 after finding the organization through volunteer work at Community Farmers’ Market. First, they began working with the FMSP Team and then moved into the position of Communications Associate. Kris aspires to use their skills to bring more support to local food systems in Kentucky, recognizing that local food benefits the economy, the environment, and community health as a whole.