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Starting a New Year with New Growth in New York

The start of a new year aligned with the start for new staff members and transitioning roles for our American Farmland Trust New York team! Meet Heidi, José, Mikaela, and Ashlea and learn a bit about what brought them to their work in saving New York farmland that sustains us below!

Along with the growth of our team, we have seen tremendous growth in our programs.
Our Farmland for a New Generation New York program celebrated 100 matches of farmers to farmland since the statewide initiative launched in 2018 and welcomed 35 new and returning Regional Navigators to provide one-on-one support to farmers and landowners. We also increased impact of the Genesee River Demonstration Farms Network by adding five new woman-led farms, encompassing a total of 5,050 additional acres, and received new funding to expand our regenerative agricultural work across five major regions of the state. Finally, we brought on six new school teams to our New York Farm to School Institute, adding to a combined 24 schools that have received training on buying New York grown food, and are impacting more than 15,000 students statewide, and 1.1 million in New York City!

Meet Our Growing Team

Heidi Exline: New York Deputy Director

1. In one sentence, how would you describe what you do at AFT?
   I see my role as a coach, problem-solver, barrier-remover, and champion of the fantastic staff I support.
2. What are you most excited for in your area of work in the year ahead?
   It’s hard to know where to begin with this question, as I’m so excited about so many aspects of my role. If I have to commit to one thing, I’m most excited about our work supporting farmers, whether that’s urban farmers in Oneida County, those looking for larger parcels of land that we’re connecting through our New York Farmland Finder website, or those aiming to sell to schools or other intuitions through our Farm to Institution New York State work.
3. How has your professional or personal background influenced or led you to this role?
   I’m a Midwesterner, a child and grandchild of farmers, who became interested in farming after moving to New York City. It was in NYC that I worked in a role connecting excess upstate produce with downstate emergency food programs. I knew then and there that I wanted to continue the work of supporting sustainable agriculture and increase upstate-downstate linkages in support of healthy food systems. And I love how this work also connects me back to my agricultural roots and keeps me connected to the land.
   
4. If you could have any New York product in your kitchen all year, what would you choose?
   Apples! I love NYS apples, especially the sweet-tart ones like winesap and cortlandt, and, on the tarter side, mutsu. Apples with New York cheese are even better!

José López Ganem: New York Program Specialist

1. In one sentence, how would you describe what you do at AFT? Collaborate with our team to make sure that the future generation of New York farmers includes peers that live and farm “en español.”
2. What are you most excited for in your area of work in the year ahead? Support on making the farm scene in our state sustainable, diverse, and livable.
3. How has your professional or personal background influenced or led you to this role? Much of my professional career has been spent studying and supporting tropical agriculture in the Global South. I have lived through – may I say, survived – many of the underpinnings (insecurity, poverty, inequality, climate change, among others) that lead Spanish-speaking people to relocate to the United States seeking a better life. I also spent my formative years in the hospitality and food service industry in New York and California, palpating the United States not only as a land of opportunity, but also committed to a more hospitable version of itself. I am certain that agriculture is a place where everyone fits – and very excited to work alongside an amazing team and valuable colleagues who share those values.
4. If you could have any New York product in your kitchen all year, what would you choose? Hailing from the tropics – Mexico, to be precise – I long for the fresh fruits and greens of my childhood. Nonetheless, New York offers an exciting array of different produce that make seasonal appearances on my kitchen counter: cabbage in winter and early spring, the most delicious strawberries and green asparagus in the summer, fall is all about the apples and the squash. Thanks to the many independent and small farms in the state, fresh local produce is a daily staple at home. On a side note, special occasions call for Long Island duck and Finger Lakes wine!

Mikaela Perry: New York Policy Manager

1. In one sentence, how would you describe what you do at AFT?
   I advocate for policies and programs that will serve New York farmers, support farm viability, and permanently protect New York farmland.
2. What are you most excited for in your area of work in the year ahead?
   I am most excited to dive into new AFT research and projects that will inform future areas of focus for New York policy, such as land-use laws that can support urban agriculture and building out farm-to-healthcare incentives and programs.
3. How has your professional or personal background influenced or led you to this role?
   My parents might say I was always a little too vocal about the injustices of the world. I was the fifth-generation raised on my family’s farm, and the first generation to attend college. I received my Bachelor of Arts in political science and while other students were attending parties and playing sports, I was standing outside the lunch hall advocating to end mass incarceration and meeting with Vermont legislators about the Violence Against Women Act. Following my graduation, I spent the next 8 years working in farm-focused nonprofits, serving as an Agricultural Peace Corps volunteer, and farming in several states, including my family’s farm and assisting my father with a conservation easement to permanently protect and sell our land. I miss farming every day, but I believe advocating for farmers and issues that benefit farmers is the next best option. To make a short story long, everything in my life has led me to this position!
   
4. If you could have any New York product in your kitchen all year, what would you choose?
   Maple syrup! Even though I strongly prefer Vermont maple syrup to New York’s (controversial, I know!), not a meal goes by that I don’t reach for this staple.

Ashlea Raemer: Farm to Institution NYS Associate

1. In one sentence, how would you describe what you do at AFT?
   I work on curriculum and program design for the New York Farm to School Institute, along with developing resources for institutional markets through the FINYS Local Food Buyer Learning Center.
2. What are you most excited for in your area of work in the year ahead?
   This year we are hosting our fifth cohort of schools for the New York Farm to School Institute, which is a professional development program we offer to help K-12 schools and early childhood education programs in New York bring more local food into their cafeterias, classrooms, and communities.
3. How has your professional or personal background influenced or led you to this role?
   I recently had my fourth anniversary working for AFT, and I spent that time in the New York program assistant and New York program coordinator roles. Through those experiences I was exposed to pretty much all aspects of the work done in AFT’s New York regional office, but I mostly split my time between Farmland for a New Generation New York and Farm to Institution New York State, or FINYS. When the FINYS associate position opened, it was a natural progression for me to spend more time focusing on one program area and move into doing more program development work.
4. If you could have any New York product in your kitchen all year, what would you choose?
   It would obviously be fresh, local, peak-season strawberries and tomatoes. My favorite weeks at the farmers market are when either of those start appearing. As for something that is available year-round, I really love to have local dairy products on hand, whether it’s butter, yogurt, or cheese.