Meet the team

Born and raised in New Jersey, Shannon identifies herself as a farmer. Her passion for farming began with a curiosity about the interconnectedness of the food system, and the impacts industrial food had on my mind, body, and spirit.

Shannon’s relationship with food changed once she apprenticed on her first farm. She fell in love with growing food, sharing it with the community, and cooking it. As she gained knowledge and wisdom from her mentors and nature, it was incumbent upon her to share. Shannon is a proponent of food and land sovereignty, and the value of green spaces.

In Newark over the past three years, Shannon has been doing hands-on gardening and cooking lessons through the arts and sciences in the classroom and garden. She has also led cafeteria taste tests, school and community events, summer camp, and stewarded school gardens as food sources and outdoor learning environments. Shannon is currently the assistant farm manager at Hawthorne Avenue Farm in Newark. Overall, she has been tending the soil for six years. She foraged onion grass and edible flowers as a child.

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