Mission Statement: Sustainable Farms & Communities supports local community by fostering economic development through education about food and farming.
Our focus: Sustainable Farms & Communities (SF&C) is a non-profit group of citizens and farmers based in Columbia, Missouri. We are currently working in partnership with government, educational institutions, not-for-profit organizations, businesses, and individuals to build a permanent, self-sufficient, year-round pavilion to house the Columbia Farmers' Market. This project is intended to help ensure a bright future for the Market, help develop a safe, healthy local food supply, foster entrepreneurship that builds the local economy, and build a stronger community and environment for healthy living.
Who we are :
SF&C's board of directors is composed of area farmers and citizens who donate their time as volunteers to furthering our shared goal of a brighter future for local farms and communities. Read more about us below.
Dan Kuebler, chairperson, has been a resident of Columbia, Missouri for the past 30 years. He has been both an organic vegetable grower and board member of the Columbia Farmers' Market, Inc. throughout the 1990's. In 1998 he helped found SF&C, which is committed to establishing and managing a permanent market pavilion in Columbia which will serve the urban and rural members of the Mid-Missouri region. Dan grew up in the small Missouri town of Hermann and learned to garden, preserve food, and cook with the love and guidance of his parents. He attended the University of Missouri and has been a registered Physical Therapist since 1975. Joined 1998.
Sue Baird, vice-chair, has over eight years of experience in the organic certification industry. She managed the Missouri State Organic Program until it was eliminated in 2004, and has worked for two different certification agencies. She has a BS in Poultry Science, with a minor in microbiology, and a MS in poultry Diseases, both from the University of Arkansas. Sue has taught organic certification workshops to transitional producers and processors and potential organic inspectors in eight states and three Latin American countries in cooperation with USDA-SARE, IOIA, ATTRA, university extensions, and state department of agricultures. In addition to her organic training and regulatory background, Sue has served on the Board of Directors for: Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI); International Organic Inspector’s Association (IOIA); the National Association of State Organic Programs (NASOP); and Missouri Organic Association (MOA). Sue’s interest remains focused on her own organically managed vegetable farm, and with networking the Missouri organic farmers with better markets for their organic products. Joined August 2008.
Ellen Dugger, treasurer, has been a resident of Columbia since 1972 and an employee at Family Counseling Center of Missouri since 1990. Her natural tendency toward all things detail lead her to volunteer to be on the board of SFC as their treasurer. Ellen developed a love of farmers markets as a patron of the Madison, Wisconsin market. She enjoys finding local markets when she travels. She believes in growing the local economy by supporting local businesses and farmers. Ellen also values the social aspects of regularly shopping at farmers markets. They are an excellent way to bring the community together, develop friendships, get to know our food producers, and become more aware of the politics of our food production. And as a person for whom cooking has never been a passion, it is really important to be able to buy fresh, healthy food that naturally tastes good! Joined March 2006.
Kim Coldicott, secretary, is a recently returned Mid Missouri native, having lived and worked in Florida, Colorado and New York for the last 15 years. Her career in youth education, primarily with Extension 4-H programs, has helped Kim develop skills in teaching, program development and volunteer leadership. Kim grew up enjoying small farms with her grandparents and has carried this love for small farms, the environment, nutrition and cooking into her teaching career. To pursue these passions, Kim took an apprenticeship on a family owned organic farm located in Central New York. This experience solidified her commitment to being a voice for sustainable agriculture and local food systems. Kim was appointed by the City of Columbia to serve as a board member for SF&C in 2008. She volunteers on local farms when she gets the opportunity and she has a goal to own a small farm in the future. Joined December 2007.
Casey Corbin, Executive Director, is new to Columbia but not to our mission. He moved here from Alaska specifically to lead our efforts and work with our community to raise the funds for the Farmers Market Pavilion. Casey has been in nonprofit development for 20 years primarily in the areas of underserved populations and at-risk youth. He was born and raised in Reynoldsburg, Ohio and has lived in a dozen states working on various projects. He has spent most of the past 15 years in Alaska working with Alaska Native populations where he established and directed the largest Tribal AmeriCorps program in the nation. He is also a professional photographer and has two Alaska huskies that you are likely to see with him wherever he goes. Casey is a strong advocate for farmers markets and believes they are an essential part of the social and economic well being of a community such as Columbia. They provide safe, local foods as well as a place for economic development and community building. Casey is excited to be a part of SF&C's mission as well as a new member of our community. casey@farmersmarketpavilion.org (573) 823-FOOD (3663)
Liz Graznak is a Columbia native. She moved away to attend college and grad school, living in many different places for about a 10 year period, before finding her way back to Missouri. She farmed for a couple of years with various different people before accepting a job at Superior Garden Center where she is now the General Manager. She and her partner recently purchased a farm in Moniteau Co. and will definitely be returning as a grower to the Columbia Farmer's Market in the near future. Liz has been a member of the SF&C board for almost 2 years and is thrilled that Columbia will finally have a central market location that will add a wonderful centralized meeting spot to the community. Joined January 2007.
Mike Knoll grew up is south St. Louis County during the Eisenhower & Kennedy years of peace and prosperity. Pop tried and tried but never could grow a tomato plant in the suburban back yard due to some problem related to the family dog, but the seed was planted, so to speak, in Mike's mind. As he wandered out on his own and planted his own gardens he separated his dogs from his tomato plants and things worked out better. He tried more fruits, vegetables, and herbs as time allowed and eventually he moved to Boone County in the mid-seventies, finding places with larger garden spots. Except for a brief foray to Alaska in '79 he's pretty well stayed put somewhere or another out in Boone County, raising gardens and such. He became a member of the Columbia Farmers' Market in the late 90's and has kept with it since then. He is currently serving as the Market's vice-president while operating his farm at the Devil's Backbone in southeast Boone County. Mike first got involved with SF&C for a bit in 1998, again from 2001-2005, and rejoined in June 2009.
Ericka Kranitz recently moved to Columbia in January 2008. She has worked extensively in the accounting and auditing field and was the Director of Internal Audit at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina before moving to Columbia. She has worked for many different companies and has been fortunate to work in various countries throughout Europe and Central America. Currently, Ericka works for the University of Missouri System where she is responsible for coordinating and providing financial compliance training for all four campuses. Originally from Kansas City, Ericka graduated from UMKC and is a licensed CPA in the State of Missouri. Ericka has always had an interest in the nonprofit community and she teaches courses on nonprofit financial management for the Truman School and the School of Accountancy at the University. Both Ericka and her significant other Neil Olson are looking forward to getting involved with SF&C and other community efforts throughout Columbia. Joined October 2008.
Mike McGowan is the proprietor of Shadetree Engineering Services which builds and repairs radio broadcast stations. This operation helps support Shadetree Vegetable Ranch where he grows 200 to 250 different varieties of organic vegetables including 70 different heirloom tomatoes. Other big crops are sweet corn and peppers but he grows several varieties of most vegetables. Mike doesn't grow anything he doesn't like to eat. He loves to cook and has the belly to prove it. He also has a collection of over 700 cook books for ideas. His grandfather grew tomatoes, sweet corn, onions and chickens but he sold the farm before Mike was big enough to drive the tractor. So now Mike has his own tractors and is thinking about getting poultry. Mike has been on the board of Sustainable Farms and Communities since shortly after it began and has been selling at the Farmers Market for several years. Some of his other interests include flying and singing classical music. Joined 1998.
Tim Cox has been a Columbia native for 30 years. He presently serves in a managerial role at IMMVAC INC., a local life science company that produces vaccines and serums for production and companion animals. Tim grew up enjoying his grandparents' farm and gardening with them and his parents in the summers. That combined with the travel across the country visiting large and small dairies and production facilities has exposed him to various farming communities and markets. He is excited to be a part in SF&C's mission to bring a permanent pavilion for the local farmers and community to enjoy. Joined March 2009.
