At Sister Groves Farm, I contribute to more resilient, dignified food systems, I am helping build a better future for all of us. For all of us, I hope to see a future where foodcrops and native flora can tolerate the extreme heat and cold of a changing climate. It brings me comfort to contribute to this process in my small ways, and I'll know I did everything I could to care for myself and others.

I hope to bring dignity to our food systems, including centering human dignity at the very beginning and very end of the chain. Our food goes through so many processes in the hands of a farmer before it lands at our grocery, and much of farmers' work goes unnoticed or unrecognized. At the other end of the food system, everyone deserves to have food on their table. By cultivating (and participating in) a food system where farmers can make a living wage and rest after harvest, as well as increase food access for people who have a harder time getting healthy meals, I hope to use food systems to cultivate a shared community understanding: Everyone deserves to eat.

Also, with every public education event we hold or conversation I have with a farmer, I learn so much about how others are building relationships in their local community. Breaking bread is one of the most fundamental forms of building community, and it is so important to me to help create these spaces for neighbors to come together, learn, and enjoy a good meal.

I am so inspired by the world around me, including both human and nonhuman neighbors! In a forest, everything works together to maintain a thriving ecosystem. In this way, it becomes clear that diversity is healthy and natural, and that there is a wide range of possibilities for thriving in the world. As a transgender person, it is meaningful to look to nature and see the ways things are always evolving into fuller, brighter versions of themselves -- and I'm no different as I transition.