Adam Saunders
Co-Founder and Special Projects Director
Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture
You could describe me as a three-way cross between the charismatic you-tube engineering educator Mark Rober, the serial entrepreneur / systems thinker Elon Musk, and tree planting / real estate developer Johnny Appleseed.
I live in mid-Missouri in the college town of Columbia, MO. I work throughout the region on farms and forests wearing a range of hats in what I call “Green Collar Jobs”. These include those working directly with plants and animals, as well as work done through value added processing. Direct work I am engaged with includes apple orchards, regenerative farming, forest management, and raising livestock. Similarly value added work includes pressing cider, making medically tailored meals, sawmiling logs into lumber, doing meat processing, and construction with simple regional materials; wood, straw, clay, and rock.
Like all “Green Collar Jobs”, these value chains have an inherent seasonal flow and are generally labor intensive. Blending work across multiple sectors can ballast out the highs and lows of the season to help optimize work flow, support labor organizing, and provide a fun blend of real, on the ground jobs that fit the “gig economy”. The current homestead movement is smack in the middle of this space with people craving meaningful work and simplicity to balance out the speed of the modern digital world.
Hands-on education is one of the key underpennings of this vision. In 2008 I co-founded Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture (CCUA), a 501c3 educational non-profit. We’ve since grown to a staff of 30 providing a wide range of programs in our community. These include growing produce for the local food pantry, mentoring low-income families in their home gardens, training farmers/gardeners, and operating a commercial kitchen as part of a regional food hub. My role has evolved over the years from gardener, to fundraiser, to public-private campaign manager, to now, a part time special projects director. My current role allows me to develop strategic partnerships across sectors that bring out the win-win partnerships that people have when working closer to their food supply.
I also farm part-time helping landowners establish estate apple orchards and implement regenerative farming and forestry projects. This model of farming re-sets the traditional risk-bearing dynamics in farming by helping create profitable homesteads, and creating quality jobs for people across a range of experience. The current trends of farmland fragmentation and sophistication of regional food systems supports this innovative business strategy.
I live in mid-Missouri in the college town of Columbia, MO. I work throughout the region on farms and forests wearing a range of hats in what I call “Green Collar Jobs”. These include those working directly with plants and animals, as well as work done through value added processing. Direct work I am engaged with includes apple orchards, regenerative farming, forest management, and raising livestock. Similarly value added work includes pressing cider, making medically tailored meals, sawmiling logs into lumber, doing meat processing, and construction with simple regional materials; wood, straw, clay, and rock.
Like all “Green Collar Jobs”, these value chains have an inherent seasonal flow and are generally labor intensive. Blending work across multiple sectors can ballast out the highs and lows of the season to help optimize work flow, support labor organizing, and provide a fun blend of real, on the ground jobs that fit the “gig economy”. The current homestead movement is smack in the middle of this space with people craving meaningful work and simplicity to balance out the speed of the modern digital world.
Hands-on education is one of the key underpennings of this vision. In 2008 I co-founded Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture (CCUA), a 501c3 educational non-profit. We’ve since grown to a staff of 30 providing a wide range of programs in our community. These include growing produce for the local food pantry, mentoring low-income families in their home gardens, training farmers/gardeners, and operating a commercial kitchen as part of a regional food hub. My role has evolved over the years from gardener, to fundraiser, to public-private campaign manager, to now, a part time special projects director. My current role allows me to develop strategic partnerships across sectors that bring out the win-win partnerships that people have when working closer to their food supply.
I also farm part-time helping landowners establish estate apple orchards and implement regenerative farming and forestry projects. This model of farming re-sets the traditional risk-bearing dynamics in farming by helping create profitable homesteads, and creating quality jobs for people across a range of experience. The current trends of farmland fragmentation and sophistication of regional food systems supports this innovative business strategy.
