2021 has kicked off with exciting growth for the National Farm to School Network team! We’re thrilled to have welcomed six new teammates to our staff over the past several months, and are excited to introduce you to them. Across their different roles, they each play an important part in supporting National Farm to School Network’s vision of a just food system. Meet them below, and don’t hesitate to reach out and say hi.
Abby Katz - Policy Fellow
Abby Katz is our new Policy Fellow. Abby is completing her Master’s degree in Food Studies, with a focus on policy and history, at New York University. Her intersectional and interdisciplinary approach stems from her experience developing a major at the University of Connecticut, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Food, Culture, and Sustainable Society (Individualized) and Human Rights. She also holds a certificate in Food and Sustainability Studies from The Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy. Abby's research interests are food policy, food history, cultural analysis, social justice, health equity, and sustainability. Her identity as an Afro-Latina shapes her interest in understanding the complexities of inequitable health outcomes in Black and Latinx/e communities – collectively and respectively. She also currently works in the Section on Health Choice, Policy, and Evaluation in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone, in addition to collaborating with Dr. Kristen Cooksey-Stowers in the Department of Public Policy at the University of Connecticut. You can find Abby somewhere between coastal New England and the New York metro area, cooking, watching documentaries, and connecting with friends.
Mackenize Martinez - Program Associate, Native Communities
Mackenize Martinez has joined our team as a Program Associate, supporting our work in Native Communities. Mackenize is a native of Zwolle, Louisiana, and an enrolled Tribal member of Choctaw and Apache descent. She earned her undergraduate degree from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where she studied agricultural and animal sciences. Mackenize is currently enrolled in graduate courses at Arizona State University and plans to earn her Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems. Mackenize’s passions include engaging with livestock producers, implementing farm to school initiatives, and supporting Indigenous food systems through policy advocacy. Mackenize has served farmers, ranchers, and food producers in various capacities. In 2019, she advocated for farm to school efforts in Native communities while working collaboratively between the Intertribal Agriculture Council and National Farm to School Network as the Partnership Communications Intern. In the spring of 2020, Mackenize served as a congressional intern in Washington, DC, for the House Committee on Agriculture’s majority office. During her time as an intern with both the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative and Native American Agriculture Fund, she was actively engaged in nationwide efforts geared towards promoting food sovereignty and supporting Indigenous farmers and ranchers.
Sophia Riemer - Programs Fellow
Sophia Riemer is our 2020 Programs Fellow. Sophia recently finished a Masters in Public Health Nutrition from University of Washington's Graduate Coordinated Program in Dietetics. While in the program, she evaluated Washington State Department of Health’s fruit and vegetable incentive program using a community-based participatory approach. She is currently coordinating Washington State’s Farm to ECE implementation grant, where she is able to unite her passions for farm to school, healthy food access, and addressing inequities in our communities. Sophia also brings experience in farm to school nonprofit management from her time as program manager of Sprouts Cooking Club’s after school program, overseeing gardening, nutrition and culinary classes in over twenty schools across the California Bay Area. In her free time you can find her swimming or snorkeling on the Southern California coastline, cooking, gardening, reading, or hiking.
Sophia Rodriguez - Communications Intern
Sophia Rodriguez is our 2020 Communications Intern. Originally from Hinesville, Georgia, Sophia is a junior at the University of Georgia where she is studying Human Development & Family Sciences and International Affairs with a minor in Spanish. As a pottery enthusiast, aspiring community gardener, and avid 4-H'er, she enjoys using her creativity to inspire equity-informed positive youth development. Sophia currently serves on National 4-H Council's Young Alumni Advisory Board, and she’s excited to use her passions and experience to contribute to the food justice movement. Sophia has helped launch National Farm to School Network’s new TikTok account - check us out at @FarmtoSchool!
Tiffany Torres - Strategic Plan Fellow
Tiffany Torres has joined our staff as Strategic Plan Fellow and will support our efforts in working towards our new call to action: By 2025, 100% of communities will hold power in a racially just food system. Tiffany is based out of Florida and brings extensive experience in farm to school and working with producers. She formerly supported farm to school efforts in Florida while working for the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension and is a former FoodCorps service member.
Tomas Delgado - Program Manager
Tomas Delgado has joined our staff as Program Manager, focused on supporting our work in Native Communities and with farmers and producers. Based in Illinois, the Prairie State, Tomas is passionate about building and supporting socially equitable and environmentally resilient communities. Tomas has experience in public and non-profit administration, scientific and policy research, ecological restoration efforts, and community organizing for social, environmental, and food justice. Tomas has a background in geography from Eastern Illinois University where he obtained a Bachelors of Science in Human Geography and is currently finishing a Masters degree in Geographic Information Sciences (GIS). Tomas’ academic background concentrates on the nexus of community-based, environmental resilience as it relates to land use and natural areas conservation policy, with a heightened focus on BIPOC and ancestral environmental stewardship. In his role as Program Manager, Tomas will oversee NFSN’s support of projects in Native communities and will serve as the lead for the NFSN’s work on Bringing the Farm to School, a new training program for agricultural producers across the country. Tomas currently resides in Urbana, Illinois where he is involved in local mutual aid systems and serves on a number of public boards and advisory commissions. Tomas enjoys collecting music, traveling, cartography, cycling, hiking, and coffee.