Business Leadership Award

Masa Cooperativa

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Masa Cooperativa is a worker-owned and majority immigrant-operated cooperative based in Philadelphia that mills corn grown in partnership with local organic farms to produce masa–a maize dough used to make popular foods, such as tortillas, tamales, arepas, and other staples of Latin American cuisine. Their process is based on ancestral techniques from the indigenous people of the Americas, honoring the cultural importance and nutritional value of corn masa.

The Cooperativa’s goal is to raise the standards of commercially available masa by providing wholesome, organic masa grown and made locally. They produce masa both for wholesale to restaurants and for retail within the community. 

As a business that is majority immigrant-owned and utilizes a worker-owned model that promotes wealth redistribution and non-extractive financial management, all while serving surrounding communities and working across the rural-urban divide, Masa Cooperativa is an inspiration to other businesses. They challenge us to reimagine our food system–positing that it is not only the product that delivers exceptional taste, nutrition, and value to the community, but also the process itself–and that both are deserving of celebration.

Community Leadership Award

Truelove Seeds

Philadelphia, Pennsylvnia

Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open-pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. They have been a collaborative project since the beginning, now involving 75 growers who produce seeds for their catalog along with a team of staff and apprentices growing, cleaning, organizing, and shipping the seeds from their farm and office, each contributing and stewarding ancestral seeds and stories along the way. 

Co-Founders Owen Taylor and Chris Bolden-Newsome launched their first seed catalog in 2017 and have since expanded to include mentorships, apprenticeships, and a wide array of community programs, including seed-saving workshops, seed exchanges, and local farm partnerships. Truelove is a training partner in Pasa’s Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprenticeship, graduating three to five individuals each season. They are passionate about educating young farmers on how to save seeds that are culturally relevant to them. Recently, Truelove collaborated with Pasa to facilitate our first fully bilingual event at Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden. 

It takes a village to raise a community-based seed company, and Truelove would not be complete without its people! Maebh Aguilar is the Seed Collection Manager and self-proclaimed “office human.” Miki Palchick helps manage the farm and apprenticeship program. Zainab Muhammad fills most of the orders, manages packet filling in the winter, and spearheads the fermentation station and farm seed room organization in the summer. Hannah Thompson, Sarah Kim, and Chesa Thai knock out farm tasks and packet-filling projects. Chesa is also building a new database to keep the seed collection, germination tests, and crop plans organized. Sara Taylor has been a web and graphic designer, bookkeeper, and business manager.

The name “Truelove” honors the memories of Leticia Truelove, Owen and Sara’s maternal great-great-grandmother. Chris and Owen believe that seed saving is an act of true love for ancestors and for the collective future. We are grateful for Truelove’s contributions to the Pasa community and are humbled by their dedication to stewarding ancestral crops, as well as their heart for mentoring aspiring farmers and community members on their journey to reconnect with their roots through diasporic seeds.

Leadership Award

Sue Miller, Birchrun Hills Farm

Chester County, Pennsylvania

Sue Miller co-manages Birchrun Hills Farm, a first-generation dairy farm with an on-site creamery in Chester County, about an hour northwest of Philadelphia.

Sue fell in love with taking care of cows when she met her husband, Ken Miller. Since 2006, the Millers have been committed to dairy farming using conservation-minded methods. Their award-winning, handcrafted raw milk cheeses have become staples in local restaurants, farmers markets, breweries, and farm shows. In 2023, the Chester County Commissioners awarded the Miller family the Farmers of the Year award, acknowledging their dynamic business model, commitment to sustainable farming, and local food system advocacy.

Many Pasa staff members hold a deeply personal admiration for Sue. Pasa’s Farm Bill Campaign Organizer Lindsey Shapiro, shared, “When I was a baby farmer, I took my mom for a tour around our farmers market and brought her to my favorite cheese stand to meet the proprietor, Sue Miller. Sue said to my mom, ‘You should be so proud that your daughter’s a farmer.’ That moment has always stuck with me–I think it exemplifies Sue’s dedication to supporting her peers in this industry and helping us navigate the challenges of a life in farming.”

Sue previously served as a Pasa Board member from 2008 to 2017 and is remembered for her insightful contributions. She notably articulated the unique challenges faced by dairy farmers, highlighting Pasa’s role in representing a dairy community aiming to balance the health of the farmer, animals, community, and ecosystem. We are proud to be presenting this award to Sue Miller as a tribute to her commitment to environmental stewardship and in gratitude for her leadership in this community.

Lifetime Service Award

Chef Mike Ditchfield

Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

Chef Mike Ditchfield has dedicated his career to educating the next generation of chefs. He upholds that the farmers he works closely with are the primary sources connecting him to high-quality food, and relays the same philosophy to his students–teaching them how to source ingredients sustainably and how to prepare cuisines that honor those ingredients. 

Recently retired from Penn College of Technology, his classes often involved trips to organic farms, trout nurseries, and wineries, as well as food demonstrations at local growers markets and harvest dinners. For many years, he played a crucial role in showcasing sustainable products by bringing students into the Pasa Conference kitchen to process whole birds, prepare farm-fresh produce, and create tasty dishes for thousands of attendees. 

In the words of Pasa’s Associate Director for Farmer Training & Development, Dan Dalton, “When Chef Ditchfield speaks about food service, farming, and the environment, he is nothing short of compelling. He’s a true community advocate, representing so well what Pasa has been and aims to be within the food system.” 

A favorite on the Pennsylvania Farm Show PA Preferred Culinary Connection stage, Chef Ditchfield’s relatable style and dedication to healthy, whole foods has made a notable difference in the lives of his students, the farmers he partners with, and foodies throughout the region.

Lifetime Service Award

John & Sukey Jamison

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

Lifetime Pasa members John and Sukey Jamison have dedicated their lives to improving the health of their land and community by conservation grazing and supplying their local market with high-quality lamb cuts. When the lack of access to meat processing facilities proved challenging to their business, The Jamison Farm, they built their own USDA processing plant to serve their own needs, as well as those of their neighbors in Western Pennsylvania. Self-proclaimed high school sweethearts, the Jamisons authored Coyotes in the Pasture & Wolves at the Door: Stories and Recipes from Our Farm to Your Table, in which the couple shares the knowledge they have gained through their many years of sheep farming.

John served on the Pasa Board from 2004 to 2013 and is remembered for his witty and joyful contributions, challenging us to think holistically about the impacts of our decisions on the lives of farmers and their businesses. After John was diagnosed a year ago with normal pressure hydrocephalus, the couple doubled down on what has become a remarkable journey to recovery for John, with Sukey by his side. We are happy to report John is back on his tractor again!

We are so grateful for the many contributions the Jamisons have made to our community and for the countless ways they have touched the lives of fellow farmers, chefs, and customers along the way!

Lifetime Service Award

Ira Wallace

Louisa County, Virginia

Ira Wallace is a gardener, teacher, and author who manages Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, a cooperatively owned seed company. Ira played a role in the making of the 2014 film Open Sesame: The Story of Seeds, a compelling documentary highlighting the obstacles that some of the most notable non-GMO seed proponents face in their quest to keep seeds from being appropriated as intellectual property and controlled by powerful entities. She has served as a Board member for the Virginia Association for Biological Farming, Open Source Seed Initiative, and Organic Seed Alliance. She was the recipient of the 2016 Craig Claiborne Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2019 American Horticultural Society‘s Paul Ecke Jr. Commercial Award, and the 2019 Organic Educator Award. In 2023, Ira received the coveted James Beard Foundation’s Leadership Award.

Ira is known for her unrelenting support of new seed companies, uplifting them and providing them with a platform to share their stories. She is unwavering in her commitment to reducing competition, encouraging young farmers, and fighting for land access. She calls Acorn Community–an intentional egalitarian community on 72 acres in Mineral, Virginia, that supports radical sharing and encourages personal responsibility–home, where she is considered the godmother of cultural seed preservation. 

Since 2012, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange has been a steadfast business partner in our Conference trade show, and for most of those years, Ira has also shared her knowledge with our community as a Conference speaker. Furthermore, many of our young farmers and seed savers have sought her counsel and attribute much success to her fortitude, guidance, and wisdom. We’re so grateful to Ira for her contributions to our community.

Do you know a farmer, community, or business leader committed to advancing the field of sustainable agriculture who deserves a shoutout? Fill out the Pasabilities Nomination Form!

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Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding 

Whether commissioning a Pennsylvania agriculture strategic plan, launching the Pennsylvania Farm Bill, or serving on the USDA’s Equity Commission Subcommittee on Agriculture, Secretary Russell Redding steadfastly serves Pennsylvania’s farmers. Through the PA Farm Bill, he has overseen one of the largest expansions of agricultural services and programming in Pennsylvania’s history. The Farm Bill provides resources that touch on numerous sustainable agriculture priorities, for all farmers in our Commonwealth, including recognizing the vital role farmers can have in mitigating climate change. 

Secretary Redding takes time to listen to farmers and forwards the changes they want to see through the state’s evolving support for agriculture in the Commonwealth. As the NEASDA chair, his leadership sets a high bar and expectation for his peers. Since 2015, urban agriculture funding has been included in the PA Farm Bill, before many other states were really even paying attention to urban ag. At every turn, he emphasizes the importance of diversity in agriculture and ensures everyone has a voice at the table and matters in the field. At the Department, he launched a committee that promotes an inclusive working environment and we look forward to seeing how he forwards an even more inclusive and diverse team, now that he has been asked to serve again as Secretary under, now, a third Administration.

I was honored to serve as Secretary Redding’s Deputy for two years and we regularly engaged around his commitment to examine and promote ways for conventional and organic farmers to coexist. We didn’t always agree, but I never doubted his desire to make agriculture a place for everyone. We’ve been thrilled that the Secretary hired a special assistant to focus on workforce development, and helped expand the state’s prioritization of agriculture apprenticeships. We are grateful for all the ways he looks for opportunities to improve working conditions for farmworkers, the viability of farming as a livelihood, and the overt support for sustainable agriculture through his voice and his example.

Ash Richards

Ash Richards is Urban Agriculture Director at Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, managing the Farm Philly Program and the City’s first Urban Agriculture Plan Growing from the Root. Through their work, they systematically identify and address issues and challenges in Philadelphia facing the urban ag community including land access, education, and resources. 

Pasa board member Jessica Moore shared, “Ash Richards led a democratic- and community-minded process to create the Urban Ag Strategic Plan that is not only an invaluable roadmap for Philadelphia but is a needed resource to many other aligned organizations. Pasa among them, these organizations and the people they serve benefit from the plan’s ability to address challenges and support urban growers and organizations in forwarding substantive change to historically inequitable systems.” 

Richards’ work supports the self-reliance and determination of residents to grow and produce their own food and sits at the nexus of policy, planning, public services/goods, and civic engagement. They have worked for the City of Philadelphia since 2011, and prior to their role at Parks and Recreation, Ash worked for the City Planning Commission doing comprehensive and place-based planning. They also worked for the Philadelphia Water Department’s Office of Watersheds doing green stormwater infrastructure projects. They have served as a member of the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council (FPAC) since 2013 and as co-chair of the FPAC Urban Agriculture Sub-Committee since 2016. 

We are grateful for their service to the sustainable agriculture community and the many growers and their neighbors whose lives are directly impacted by Ash and their unwavering dedication and commitment to an equitable and flourishing future Philadelphia food system.

Wild for Salmon

Wild for Salmon, run by Jenn and Steve Kurian, provides a wild-caught, sustainably harvested source of protein. While their product is unique to the Pasa community, Jenn and Steve’s commitment to environmental stewardship, community-focused product sales to customers at their Bloomsburg store, local farmers markets, CSA’s, coops, buying clubs, grocery stores, and online, Wild for Salmon is a shining example of an ethical business model that builds a better world and is emblematic of Pasa’s community of farmers and food advocates. 

The world-renowned Bristol Bay fishery, where Wild for Salmon fishes, is a well-managed, sustainably run fishery where the annual run of sockeye salmon continues to increase every year, reaching a record of 75 million salmon in 2022! Wild for Salmon now donates a portion of its annual profits to help sustain that fishery for the next generation and has been active in opposing an open pit mine slated for development within its pristine watershed.

Farmers John and Aimee Good at the Good Farm CSA in Lehigh County, who first met Jenn and Steve at the Pasa Conference nearly 20 years ago and have worked with them ever since, estimate that members of their CSA community have consumed approximately 5,000 pounds of salmon during their partnership with Wild for Salmon! That’s a lot of sustainably harvested protein.

Since their first fishing trip to Alaska in 2001, when the Kurians froze and smoked a few pounds of salmon they brought home in coolers to share with their community, up until today where Wild for Salmon provides sustainable fishery products throughout Pennsylvania and ships nationally, they have remained steadfast and valued supporters of the sustainable agriculture and fishery community.  

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Each year, we honor farmer, community, and business leaders who serve as examples for advancing sustainable agriculture through innovation and collaboration. We’re pleased to share this year’s award recipients.

Sustainable Agriculture Leadership Award

Art King, Harvest Valley Farms

Art King operates Harvest Valley Farms with his son David and his brother Larry in Valencia, Pennsylvania, just north of Pittsburgh. Growing over 100 varieties of small fruits and vegetables on 160 acres, they also have a 530 member CSA; sell at three farmers markets and a Farm Market & Bakery in Gibsonia; and host pick-your-own pumpkin activities in October. Art holds a B.A. degree in nature conservation from California University, Pennsylvania, and an associate degree in business management from Butler Community College. He is past president of the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association; serves on the PA Simply Sweet Onion Committee; and is a member of Royal Grange, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and Pasa Sustainable Agriculture. He was nominated as Honorary County Agent by the Pennsylvania County Agent’s Association in 2019.

Community Leadership Award

Karen Schumann-Stark

Karen is a self-proclaimed locavore who grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota, moved to Philadelphia, and in the past decade alone has been an instrumental public servant in the furtherance of the missions of Philadelphia Slow Food, GMO-Free PA, Pennsylvania Farmers Union, PCO, Rodale Institute, and Pasa Sustainable Agriculture. A tireless advocate for healthy foods, transparent labeling, and ethical practices, Karen is behind nearly all good local foods initiatives in her community. A true believer in the power of food to heal, Karen volunteers her time in service to the people around her, ever willing to lend a hand or her knowledge for the purpose of a healthy and informed citizenry.

Community Business Leader Award

Harvest Market

Harvest Market provides the Hockessin, Delaware community with the highest quality, most nourishing foods and related products available while conducting business in socially responsible ways that are both sustainable and rewarding for customers, employees, producers, and the environment. Harvest Market is committed to supporting local farmers and producers within 100 miles of their store. They have built a business on the belief that fresh, nutrient-dense foods produced on small farms provide the customer with the most health-promoting foods one can find and that buying from local growers and producers keeps food dollars circulating locally—a benefit to their employees, the community, and the environment.

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We’re proud to announce the first three graduates of our Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship program! This formal, paid apprenticeship program, registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, pairs beginning farmers with established farmers to provide a guided pathway toward managing or starting a vegetable farm.

Graduating apprentices have completed at least 2,700 hours of on-the-job training as well as 200 hours of related technical instruction, including trainings, workshops, and other educational events.

The graduating apprentices are Ashley Beeson at Two Gander Farm with host farmers Trey and Deirdre Flemming; Logan McCabe at Fullers Overlook Farm with host farmers Liz and Mike Krug; and Megan Moore at Nook & Cranny Farm with host farmer Bob Tuori.

Graduates were recognized in a virtual ceremony at Pasa’s Annual Meeting at the end of January. In a video for the ceremony, we asked the graduating apprentices and their host farms to share a little about their experience with the program and with each other.

“Seeing the growth of a new farmer”

Host farmer Bob Touri remarked that his apprentice, Megan, “did a fantastic job… She definitely has a future of running a good business ahead of her!” He also commented that her attention to detail and efficiency pushed him to pay more attention to those things.

Host farmer Liz Krug said, ”We can’t speak highly enough about the program and [our apprentice] Logan…It’s been wonderful seeing the growth of a new farmer over two seasons. And from an employer standpoint, it’s been wonderful having that steady employee here.”

Host farmer Trey Flemming also sang the praises of his apprentice: “Ashley brought a wealth of knowledge into the program. Her dedication and commitment to learning was fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with as I was going through hosting an apprentice for the first time.” Trey went on to say that it was a “profound experience…to be able bring the next generation into diversified vegetable farming.”

“The farming community is a pretty great one to be a part of.”

When asked about what she found to be most valuable about the program, Ashley Beeson responded, “Having a close relationship with a host farmer was the most valuable part of the apprenticeship. My mentor was just as passionate about my personal growth as I was passionate about the success of his farming operation.”

For Megan Moore it was the education and structure that Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship provided. “The program helped me to focus on areas where my education was lacking and improve in those areas. The educational resources available to us are vast—there were so many people around who were happy to answer any questions I had. The farming community is a pretty great one to be a part of.”

“The more you learn, the less you know…”

Apprentice Logan McCabes’s big takeaway? “The more you learn, the less you know.”

“Before getting into the program I had a very limited understanding of what goes into running a successful farming operation. I think we all get into farming because we like to grow things. That experience of seeing something you put in the ground and tended to all season…getting to enjoy the fruits of that labor is just extremely rewarding—I already knew I liked that, and I wanted to do that. But I didn’t know anything about the financials, or marketing, working with customers, running farmers markets, infrastructure needs, irrigation, fertigation…all of the things that go into running a farm. The Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship program was really able to provide that holistic understanding.”

What’s next for the next generation?

Each of our Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship graduates is pursuing a different path toward their respective futures in farming. Logan McCabe is currently seeking continued employment in farm management; Ashley Beeson is in the process of opening her own diversified vegetable farming operation, and even had help from her former host farmers in planning her new greenhouse; and Megan Moore is partnering with two other women to start a small CSA and farm stand at a brewery.

Get involved with Diversified Vegetable Apprenticeship

Applications for both apprentices and host farms are accepted on a rolling basis.

Learn more & apply or call 814.349.9856.

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Each year, we honor farmer, community, and business leaders who serve as examples for advancing sustainable agriculture through innovation and collaboration. We’re pleased to share this year’s award recipients.

Sustainable Agriculture Leadership Award

Walnut Hill Farm: Michael, Karen, and Amelia Kovach

Walnut Hill Farm is located in Western Pennsylvania and is a pastured livestock farm. “We consider helping to reconnect people to the food they eat to be almost as an important part of our purpose as doing right by the animals we raise, and the ground we raise them on and raising the highest quality meat. To that end, our doors are wide open.” The Kovachs welcome any and all to come observe their practices firsthand. The farm exemplifies excellent conservation stewardship and, in an exemplary way, models the soil health benefits of rotational grazing. Michael has also been very active on the policy front, regularly advocating for sustainable agriculture at the Federal level through his policy work with the PA Farmers Union.

Community Leadership Award

Sankofa Community Farm: Chris Bolden-Newsome & Ty Holmberg, Farm Co-Directors

Sankofa Community Farm is located in Philadelphia and focuses on vegetable and fruit production. Chris and Ty are the farm co-directors and both work tirelessly, along with their team of Ashley, Hajja and Laquanda, to serve their local community through Sankofa’s mission.

“Located in a Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood, with an African Diasporic focus rooted in spiritual practices and regenerative Natural Agriculture, the Sankofa team provides strong local leadership guiding the farm’s vision. They work in partnership to sustain youth development, community health, and food sovereignty, for the farm is the embodiment and natural progression of strong community connections. The farm has fostered a deeper relationship with the land and increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables within the community, especially for the older African American families and new West African immigrants who are making Southwest Philadelphia their home.”

Known for their focus on freely sharing their knowledge and expertise, Chris and Ty are considered integral leaders in the sustainability of their local community.

Community Leadership Award (COVID Response)

Sabine Carey

Sabine Carey operates Full Circle Farm with her family in Centre County, Pennsylvania. She is an organic cut flower and produce farmer, also raising pastured poultry, pigs, and grass-fed beef. At the height of the pandemic, Sabine had the foresight to transition Centre Markets to an online farmers market, helping farmers across Central Pennsylvania move their products and reach new customers during the pandemic. 

Especially given some of the farmers she works with had no prior online presence, her proactive approach made it possible for many farmers to weather extreme market swings and distribution roadblocks. Sabine has excellent conservation stewardship practices on her own farm and has worked part-time for Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) for 20 years, currently as an organic materials specialist. Ever at the ready to help other farmers, Sabine’s can-do attitude has made all the difference during these challenging times.

Community Business Leader Award (COVID Response)

Four Seasons Produce

Four Seasons Produce, Inc. is a full-service wholesale produce distributor supplying organic, local, and conventional fresh produce and related products to organic markets, food co-ops, independent retailers, and other produce buyers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.

In their physical plant, Four Seasons is committed to implementing innovative and cost-saving methods to reduce energy use, conserve resources, and improve the environment. The company focuses on facility improvements, harvesting rainwater, adding energy management tools, and more.

During the pandemic, Four Seasons has sought to understand farmers’ needs as they have evolved daily amidst these unprecedented times. Their team acted quickly, was creative, and made adjustments as new developments surfaced. “Our associates are working very hard and we know you are too. Communities are relying on neighborhood food retailers, and Four Seasons Produce is committed to helping our partner customers keep the fresh food moving…not only for a few days of consumer ‘panic buying,’ but also for the long-haul. The supply chain disruption and capacity issues are very real, but we are navigating them together.”

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Tyler Holmberg

Since graduating from Muhlenberg College with a BA in environmental studies, Ty has had extensive experience in youth development, food sovereignty, and education reform. Previous to his work as one of the founding directors of the Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden, he served for ten years with the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Community Partnerships as Director of Health Promotion and Director of the West Philadelphia based Sayre Community School.  

He has also spent time in the classroom as Philadelphia Teaching Fellow and Philadelphia School District science teacher, as well as two years of national service as a member of Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps, and a teaching fellow at the esteemed Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center in Estes Park, Colorado.

Raynise Kelly

Raynise is an Oliver High School and Bidwell Training Center alumni. Completing the Horticulture and Technology program she began her agriculture career as a staff at Brenckle’s Greenhouse. Upon landing a position with Grow Pittsburgh as the School Garden’s assistant she stuck with the organization for two years and is now a full time Learning Garden Educator. During that time she continued to build on her passion, and completed an herbal course certified by the Herbalist of Stonefruit Community.

Raynise is also a board member of the Hilltop Urban Farm. A member of the Black Urban Gardeners, PA Farmers Union, Western PA Young Farmers Coalition, and recently took a seat on the Working Committee of Pittsburgh Food Policy Council. Raynise continues to strive for greater roles advocating for agriculture and social justice. Realizing the Steering Committee of the PFPC would allow her to work more closely with her missions she accepted the offer to be in that group. Continuing to take on my leadership roles Raynise also accepted a new position in the organization of Grow Pittsburgh as the Manager of the Garden Resource Center. Raynise resides and works in Allegheny County.

David Rice (incumbent)

David Rice grew up on a dairy farm in Bucks County. He received an Associate Degree in Agriculture from Hesston College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Dairy Husbandry from Delaware Valley University. He worked in the bovine embryo transfer industry in Pennsylvania and California before marrying Terry (Kraybill) in 1987. Soon after, they moved to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where Dave managed a farm that was part of an alcohol rehabilitation program. In 1991 they moved to Morrison’s Cove in Blair County and started dairy farming. They began their farmstead cheese operation in 2005, and they have been selling cheese, raw milk, and pasture-raised beef ever since.

Dave sat on the board of Project Grass for many years. He won the Forage and Grassland Conservation Farmer award in 2014, and he twice won the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Farm Award. He helped establish the Pennsylvania Cheese Guild and has been involved in marketing co-ops and farmers markets. One of the challenges of 2020 was starting the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program as a Master Grazer. Off the farm, he served as a deacon at Canoe Creek Brethren in Christ Church, taught Sunday School, and participated in the Allegheny Conference Ministry Council. Dave and his wife are lifetime members of Pasa.

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We also acknowledge that the death of a human being is too high a bar for evoking mass empathy and outrage for racial injustice. As an organization with a mission to build a healthier food system, we know we cannot succeed in advancing human and environmental health without addressing the deleterious effects of structural racism in agriculture.

Farming is one of the least racially diverse professions in the nation—today, less than 2% of farmers in America are Black. From slavery, to segregationist Jim Crow laws, to USDA lending practices that discriminated against Black farmers, our country has systematically committed violence against Black people through agriculture and disenfranchised Black Americans from owning agricultural land, though there have been no shortage of promises. Centuries of chronic oppression have stigmatized what can be a fulfilling profession—one that can heal ourselves and our planet; strengthen local economies and communities; and preserve cultural traditions associated with growing and preparing food from generation to generation.

While the story of how overt and structural racism has built and continues to shape our food system is familiar to many of us, it can nonetheless be too often unacknowledged or forgotten in our collective work. Also woefully unrecognized are the contributions of Afro-Indigenous peoples to sustainable agriculture. Many of the regenerative farming methods considered innovative today—including agroforestry, diversified crop rotations, and cover cropping—were traditionally practiced by African and Indigenous cultures before the advent of our modern food system. 

Here at Pasa, we commit to taking decisive action to better support and engage Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to hold positions of influence and leadership in our agricultural communities, on the staff of our agencies, on our boards, and within our programs. We cannot successfully achieve our organization’s mission without understanding how the legacy of slavery, conscious discrimination and unconscious bias, and structural racism have disconnected and displaced multicultural BIPOC communities from the land—and without taking meaningful action to address the resulting inequities. 

We encourage you to join us in financially supporting organizations working to specifically lift up Black farmers and address racial inequities in the food system. What follows  is just a small list of the many organizations we follow. (If you know of other organizations that we should include in this list, please let us know.)

Local and regional organizations:

• Black Urban Gardeners & Farmers of Pittsburgh Co-op
• Grow Pittsburgh
• Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group 
• One Art Community Center & Farm (Philadelphia)
• Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden (Philadelphia)
• Sankofa Village Community Farm (Pittsburgh)
• Soil Generation (Philadelphia)
• Soul Fire Farm (Northeast)
• The Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust
• Urban Tree Connection (Philadelphia) 

National organizations:

• Association of Black Farmers and Agriculturalists
• Black Church Food Security Network
• Black Urban Growers
• Castanea Fellowship
• Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive 
• Family Agriculture Resource Management Services
• Food Chain Workers Alliance 
• HEAL Food Alliance
• Justice for Black Farmers
• National Black Farmers Association
• National Black Food and Justice Alliance 

We also recommend these books and podcasts that both explore racism in agriculture and the vital contributions of Black farmers.

• Black Food Geographies by Ashanté M. Reese
• Dispossession by Pete Daniel
• Farming While Black by Leah Penniman 
• Freedom Farmers by Monica M. White
• The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty
• “The Land of Our Fathers: Parts 1 & 2” (from the New York Times’ 1619 podcast)

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After nearly three decades as the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture—or, more commonly, PASA—we thought it might be time for a slight update. Our members voted to approve the update in 2019, and we’re now officially implementing it.

Moving forward, we are Pasa Sustainable Agriculture. Pasa for short.

We know that in the midst of our current reality an organization changing its name is probably one of the last things you care about. We still thought we owed you an explanation as you begin to see our name update reflected in our communications.

So why the change? To start, it’s practical. For a peek into some internal quandaries: We’d often run out of character limits when writing our name in forms. A third of air time for the 15-second public radio ads we placed were devoted to the host merely saying our name. Plus—and this is our favorite—there’s now one less acronym in the world to decipher.

We wanted to be sure to keep “Pasa” in our name to maintain the brand equity our community has lovingly built into it over the past 29 years. And we wanted to keep “Sustainable Agriculture,” of course, to clearly and succinctly express what we’re all about.

We’ve also been reflecting on the fact that our network has steadily expanded over the past several years. Today, a quarter of our members, and increasingly our farmer research collaborators and apprenticeship participants, are living and farming outside of the Commonwealth. The new name is more inclusive to our out-of-state peers.

Though it won’t be in our name, we strongly remain a Pennsylvania-based organization. Our headquarters are in Harrisburg, our work is predominantly conducted here, and we continue to work closely with our many valued partners in the state. And our programs and mission remain the same: building an economically-just, environmentally-regenerative, community-focused food system.

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Rolling Harvest Food Rescue

Sustainable Agriculture Community Leadership Award

Rolling Harvest Food Rescue works to increase access to donated fresh produce and other healthy foods by area hunger-relief sites that serve the at-risk, food-insecure population by providing local farmers and food producers with free, effective delivery and distribution of their surplus.

Rolling Harvest is committed to sharing what they’ve learned through their gleaning journey over the past eight years so that other geographic areas can duplicate its straightforward model of helping farmers share all of their surplus and beautifully irregular produce that would otherwise go to waste.

Clarion River Organics

Sustainable Agriculture Business Leadership Award

Clarion River Organics provides marketing and distribution services for 16 Amish organic produce farms. Clarion enables small and mid-size farms to participate in the wholesale food system, which these farms might otherwise have limited access to—particularly farms with technological limitations. Clarion River Organics know that successful small and mid-size farms are key to a sustainable food economy, and that alternative distribution models will not serve the majority of eaters. They believe it’s crucial to develop opportunities for all farms to participate in the mainstream system if our food economy at large is to become sustainable.

Jenn Halpin & Matt Steiman, Dickinson College Farm

Sustainable Agriculture Leadership Award

Jenn and Matt founded the organic farm at Dickinson College in 2007. In addition to directing all aspects of the farm, Jenn co-founded Dickinson’s Food Studies Certificate Program, and helped develop purchasing initiatives at the college. Additionally, Jenn was the founding president of Farmers on the Square, Carlisle’s thriving producer-only farmers market, and served on the PASA board for nine years, several of them as board chair. Matt is a FARMDATA database co-founder, and leads the farm’s hands-on demonstration projects in biogas, biodiesel, and solar energy. Matt also served as a board member of Farmers on the Square. In their time farming and teaching together, Jenn and Matt have mentored over fifty farm apprentices and hundreds of college students.

• Celebrate this year’s PASAbilities Awards recipients with us at our 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Conference! 
• Do you know someone deserving of a PASAbilities Award? You can nominate them for our 2021 Awards here.

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On October 1st, we’ll be opening an office in Harrisburg. Our new space sits just blocks from the State Capitol, the Broad Street Farmers Market, the State Department of Agriculture, many conservation partners, and at the nexus for agriculture commerce headed in all directions.

It also overlooks the Susquehanna River—the lifeblood of the Chesapeake Bay—offering a daily reminder of the urgency of our mission to support farmers who are stewarding and protecting the natural resources on which we all rely. 

Some time ago, we realized that to better meet the needs of the region’s farmers and our growing team, Harrisburg simply makes sense. In our new location, we’ll be able to host more accessible workshops and meetings with our partners. Plus, it’s more centrally located to our employees, who are embedded in both rural towns and cities across Pennsylvania, working every day to foster a peer-learning and peer-research network of farmers, food system professionals, and sustainable agriculture supporters in all parts of the state and neighboring region. 

We’ll be significantly downsizing our office in Millheim, our beloved home of nearly 30 years. But we know that PASA, after all, is not a building—it’s a community. We’re looking forward to this new chapter in our organization’s development as we continuously strive to more effectively advance our mission.

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