Bobby Clayson is a homesteader, entrepreneur, software engineer, and owner of several businesses. Having lived in the state nearly his entire life, Bobby is the definition of a true Utahn. He and his wife Mary have 4 kids and live on a 6.5 acre homestead in Salem Utah.

After 10 years of working in Utah tech startups solving some of their biggest problems, he is currently working closely with multi-generational farmers and ranchers throughout the state to develop Crofter Market, an online farmers market designed to connect producers their local communities. He is also working to protect small farmer's rights through his non-profit, The People Restored Foundation.

In 2018 he co-founded TaxBit, a tax and accounting software company for digital assets like Bitcoin. Bobby also owns and co-founded The Utah Readiness Center with retired Army Ranger Devin Soto. Located in Fillmore, The Utah Readiness Center is a tactical firearms and emergency readiness training facility.

Growing specialty and heirloom flowers is a milestone in a lifetime journey of ranching and farming. Loretta moved to Southern Utah as a two-year-old and has been connected to the land in one way or another ever since. She has always grown flowers, herbs, vegetables, and trees for her own family’s benefit, but in 2019, she became aware of the growing need for people to experience nature to improve their emotional health and wellness. That first year she planted the quarter-acre weedy strip beside the long lane to her house into cut flowers. She has since converted 2.5 acres of the family’s farm hayfields into flowers – annuals, perennials, woodies – and built two high tunnels to extend the growing season. As a member of Certified American Grown, the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, one of the founding farmers of the Southern Utah Flower Collective, and currently serving as Vice-President of the Utah Cut Flower Farm Association, she has been fortunate to learn from and be inspired by a diverse fellowship of growers. Loretta believes there is a quiet wellness that comes from aligning life with the rhythms of nature and the circle of seasons. The mission of Journey Farm is: Grow flowers to ease the mind, feed the soul, refresh the spirit, and gladden the heart.

Mitch Dumke is a co-founder of 3 Springs Land and Livestock, a regenerative ranch with a mission to create resilient communities through healthy and productive land. 3 Springs raises pastured chicken and grass fed-and-finished cattle by implementing holistic management practices to support the land’s natural ability to heal and thrive, including daily rotational grazing, cover crops, soil monitoring, and community field days. He previously was a photojournalist as well as software product manager, and now uses his past skills for his present passion.

Alison Einerson has worked to share her passion for Utah’s local food movement for many years, including a decade-long stint as Executive Director of the Downtown Farmers Market in Salt Lake City, the impassioned instructor of the “Summer in a Jar” Food Preservation courses, and as Executive Director of Local First Utah. Einerson is also a freelance writer, and holds a Master Food Preserver certificate from USU Extension. She holds a B.A. in English and Women’s Studies from the University of Utah. Einerson is committed to supporting and sustaining our regional farmers and food producers, and to ensuring that healthy foods are available to all in our community. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs, and a grumpy cat named Tubbs.

Josh Ellis has degrees in bioengineering and philosophy, lives in a greenhouse and sheep wagon with his wife and two daughters, manages a medical device consulting firm from his shipping cointainer shop, and has created and exited an ecommerce business all from the remote confines of Boulder. He currently serves as President of the Board for the Boulder Community Alliance.

Kaydee started her farm, Freckle & Flower Farm in 2018. She is growing about an acre of flowers in Enterprise, UT. She sells her flowers through seasonal bouquet subscriptions, at the Downtown Farmers Market in St. George and also to florists. After years of trying to meet the needs of local florists, it became apparent that the demand was much greater than one small farm could supply. In 2023, Kaydee founded the Southern Utah Flower Collective. It is a group of local flower farmers that are working together to make a big difference in their local floral community. They work collectively to provide a consistent quality, more variety, higher volume and streamline the process for both growers and buyers.

Jorge Fierro originally arrived in the United States from Chihuahua Mexico in 1985. A brief sheep herding stint in Wyoming would precede his arrival here in Utah. The genesis of Fierro’s Rico began with an unappetizing encounter with a can of store-bought beans. A disappointed Fierro decided to tap tradition – a family recipe for freshly cooked “De La Olla” pinto beans would be the springboard for a quarter century adventure.

Those beans would be Fierro’s first foray onto the Utah food scene, a bootstrap business operating from the downtown farmer’s market.

Today Rico (which means delicious in Spanish) offer a diverse collection of ready-to-eat Mexican food available across the Wasatch Front. Stores such as Harmons, Whole Foods and Smith’s proudly stock salsa, tortilla, enchiladas, burritos and more. The common thread is a from scratch approach, with everything made by hand, containing neither additives nor preservatives. Based on the typical contents my own refrigerator it’s no surprise then that Fierro confirms, “our top five bestsellers are pico de gallo, pork tamale, chile verde burrito, guacamole and salsa dorada.”

Steve and Emily Forbes weren’t born farmers, but an interest in healthy eating and a passion for cooking led them to start gardening in whatever space they had available. Eventually they quit their corporate jobs to begin a small farm near Manila, UT where they grow the highest quality food, not only for their own family, but for their local community as well. They sell their produce and pasture-raised meat through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model where families purchase a membership and receive a box of fresh produce every week throughout the growing season. In addition to produce, they raise chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigs, yaks and cattle out on pasture. They also host agritourism experiences, including Farm to Table dinners highlighting the delicious flavors of their farm-fresh ingredients.

Jesse Frost, aka Farmer Jesse, is a certified organic market gardener, freelance journalist, and the host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. He is also a co-founder of notillgrowers.com, where he helps collect the best and latest no-till insights from growers in the United States, Canada, the UK, and Europe. He and his wife, Hannah Crabtree, practice no-till farming at Rough Draft Farmstead in central Kentucky. Specialty: Soil Carbon​​​


Find Jesse Frost's book at the Red Acre. Bookstore
The Living Soil Handbook is centered around the three basic principles of no-till market gardening: 1) disturb the soil as little as possible, 2) keep it covered as much as possible, and 3) keep it planted as much as possible. Jesse guides readers in applying these three principles for their own garden environment to meet their own goals.

Madison Goodman is a market farmer in Oakley, UT. He farms year round with the help of high tunnels and determination. He started Madsnacks Produce in 2019 and runs it with his wife and two gritty daughters.

Radio host of weekly Urban farm report, 9 years running at community station KRCL 90.9 FM in Salt Lake City. Seed saver and urban farmer. An advocate of regenerative, sustainable farming, and the importance of where our nutrient dense food comes from, and the benefits we all can reap from eating it.

My name is Philip Grubisa, owner of Beltex Meats, a Salt Lake City Utah butcher shop committed to local, sustainable products from small farms. With a background in fine dining as a chef and a passion for cured salumi , I've earned four national food awards since opening Beltex Meats in 2014.

Julie Hall believes in the power of flowers to create connection and healing for individuals, communities, and the environment. She has been growing and selling specialty cut flowers and foliage from her 1-acre farm in Mapleton, Utah for 5 years. She is currently the President of the Utah Flower Market and enjoys working collaboratively with other flower farmers to make growing and selling locally grown flowers a sustainable and profitable industry in Utah.

Stanford Jensen is an engineer by trade and left the office to farm with his family on the farm he grew up on. He is transitioning his 500 acre agrochemical farm to a healthier chemical free regenerative agriculture farm. He added grass-fed beef to his operation in 2020 to help with this transition. He does pastured poultry, egg,s and this year he has added pastured pork. He has been modeling his practices from the work of Joel Salatin. His greatest accomplishment this year was to finally finish his on-farm rammed earth home that he, his wife, and four children have moved into.

Stan is a proud lifetime member of Red Acre Center and is grateful for the opportunity to serve on their board.

T.K. spent 10 years working in the software industry before pursing the life of a farmer.

Using the skills acquired from what feels now like a former life, he crafts systems and spreadsheets as a small part of his role at Red Acre Farm as the Director of Botanical Affairs. He has worked full-time as a grower since 2016.

Ivy received her 200 RYT certificate from The Yoga Shack in Saraasota, Florida in 2017 and since then has continued her training completing her 300 hour through Love Hive Yoga in Portland, OR in addition to specialized programs such as adaptive yoga and yoga psychology. She hopes to support students in finding their own practice and version of each pose. In her classes she loves to focus on strengthening both the mind and body while slowing down and allowing the flow of your breath to guide your movements.

Lennie Larkin started B-Side Farm in Sonoma County, California, in 2014, and has since moved the farm to settle on two beautiful acres outside of Portland, Oregon. B-Side has grown flowers for all kinds of retail and wholesale customers over the years and designed for hundreds of weddings. Lennie’s true passion lies not only in tending to her own farm but in helping other farmers thrive in their businesses. She has been an associate faculty member at Santa Rosa Junior College and served multiple terms on the board of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. She is a vocal cheerleader for other growers and is known for advocating the value of business skills―the nuts and bolts that make this beautiful life of cultivating flowers possible. Through her research and educational business, Flower Farming for Profit, she teaches a business curriculum that she developed specifically for flower farmers, provides coaching and business advising, and conducts grant-funded research on cut flower cost of production and efficiency. Her new business course for farmers, Flower Farming Business Academy, opens for registration in January 2024.

Fungal Focus was formed by Katie Lawson in 2019 to support and expand Utah’s community of mushroom cultivators and fungal advocates. Katie graduated from McDaniel College with a BS in Environmental Science and Political Science in 2009. She began working on organic vegetable farms in 2011. Farming took her all over the country, including stops in Oregon, Maine, Georgia, and Utah. Her focus shifted to fungi after taking a three day mushroom cultivation workshop with Radical Mycology in 2016.

I usually call myself a seed keeper. But titles are sometimes better given than chosen. Plant breeder, seed saver, popular speaker, and regular contributing author for Mother News magazine. Josephs's seeds can be purchased at some of the finest heirloom seed companies, and co-ops.

Doniga Markegard is a wildlife tracker, regenerative rancher, speaker, and author of Dawn Again: Tracking the Wisdom of the Wild and Wolf Girl: Finding Myself in the Wild. Her teen years in nature school started her on a path that led to a career in animal tracking and then permaculture and ranching in at her farm in California, Markegard Family Grass-Fed, where she works to regenerate both soil and community through farming. Using the innovative, carbon-storing methods of regenerative ranching, she’s restoring the land she tends, bringing native grasses and wildlife back. Doniga is a consultant and guest instructor at Nature Awareness Programs around the country, has led retreats in places such as 1440 Multiversity, Canyon Ranch and is a regular speaker at events such as the Bioneers Conference, Food Inspiration Trendsummit, and The Grassfed Exchange. She is a certified educator with Holistic Management International. She has worked with companies such as Patagonia, Tesla and Google, and has been featured in articles from Civil Eats, FastCompany, GreenBiz, The San Francisco Examiner, and NPR. Most recently she has been featured in the film Kiss the Ground available on Netflix. 

U.S. Representative Thomas Massie entered Congress in November 2012 after serving as Lewis County Judge Executive. He represents Kentucky's 4th Congressional District which stretches across Northern Kentucky and 280 miles of the Ohio River.
He grew up in the tiny town of Vanceburg, Ky., and went on to M.I.T.
where his high school sweetheart soon joined him. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, and together, they founded a virtual reality company while they were still undergrads. Mr. Massie now holds about two dozen patents. They sold the company and moved back to Kentucky, beginning work on their off-the-grid home in 2003.

Roslynn McCann first engaged with permaculture over a decade ago during an introductory workshop with the renowned Brad Lancaster and Joel Glanzberg in Moab, UT. As a Sustainable Communities Professor at Utah State University (USU), she has found that the permaculture framework—with its integrated lens and interweaving of Indigenous knowledges and western science—provides a critical pathway toward social and environmental healing. She spearheaded the USU Permaculture Initiative in 2013, has coordinated the creation of permaculture garden sites on main campus and a large part of the USU Moab campus, and has taught permaculture design to hundreds of community members, colleagues, students, and interns over the past ten years. Roslynn has also conducted and published national research regarding the permaculture movement, worked on a team to simplify Utah’s greywater policy, and has woven permaculture design into presentations on greywater, sustainable living, local food, composting, water conservation, and climate change mitigation and resilience. Her work has influenced thousands of individuals in audiences ranging from elementary school students to the federal government.

Bill McDorman has committed his productive life to community-based seed stewardship. For more than 40 years, he has been a passionate and knowledgeable presenter who inspires his audiences with the importance of grassroots seed saving and urges everyone to learn to save their own seeds.

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In 1981 he co-founded Garden City Seeds in Missoula, Montana. In 1984 he started Seeds Trust/High Altitude Gardens, a bioregional, mail-order seed company he ran successfully for 28 years. He authored the book Basic Seed Saving in 1994. In 2010, Bill and his wife Belle founded Seed School, an internationally recognized education program now with thousands of graduates from around the world. From 2011 until 2014 they served as Executive Directors of Native Seeds/SEARCH in Tucson, Arizona. In 2014 they were recruited with friend John Caccia to start the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance. Bill now spends time in his own garden. His seed list is available at Cornville Seed.

Andrew Mefferd is the editor of Growing for Market Magazine, the only magazine focused on vegetable and flower market farmers. He is also the co-host of the Growing for Market Podcast, and author of three books: The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook, The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution, and Practical No-Till Farming: A Quick and Dirty Guide to Organic Vegetable and Flower Growing. Before that, he spent seven years in the research department at Johnny’s Selected Seeds, running trials and consulting with researchers and farmers on the best practices in greenhouse growing. He learned farming by working on farms in Pennsylvania, California, Washington State, Virginia and New York State before locating his farm in Maine.

Lloyd Nelson has been practicing the art of Biodynamic (BD) Agriculture for over twenty years. He is a BD preparation maker, builder, artist, farmer, arborist, BD educator & consultant. He is co-founder of Biodynamic Source - a Colorado based non-profit specializing in high potency BD preparations - and he owns and operates a Biodynamic spray, fertilizer and consultation service. He has worked with small and large scale farms, vineyards, and orchards to transition to sustainable Biodynamic land management and Demeter BD Certification.

Sara, a farmer, chef, activist, and entrepreneur who started a CSA at 14, is the owner of and runs Red Acre Farm CSA, a successful very diversified 2-acre Biodynamic farm, farm stand, farm kitchen, and farm stay. With her mom, she established Red Acre Center for Food and Agriculture in Cedar City, Utah. Since 2015 has passed more than 11 bills directly related to small agriculture and artisan producers.The Center host the Utah Farm and Fodd Conference in its 6th year. She is the 2015 winner of the Gravel Road Gang Award for activism FTCLDF, 2016 the Unsung Hero Award from State Policy Network, in 2017 the Cedar Chamber of Commerce’s Young Citizen of the Year Award, and The Young Farmer of the Year Award from Weston A Price . She advocates that everyone should be able to start a small business and have access to local nutrient-dense food. She is a popular speaker and loves sharing her journey.

Symbria spent a lifetime working in the nonprofit sector. After her daughter started an organic farm, she and her late-husband saw the possibilities and left their employment to work full-time building a sustainable farm. Their focus was to make local food accessible and to create a community educated about healthy food and responsible sources. As her experience grew, so did her vision, and she saw the need for an organized effort in promoting and protecting farmers, farms, and local food economies. She and her daughter started another adventure, while continuing the first, and co-founded Red Acre Center in the midst of farming. She says she has never worked a day in her life. "I always find myself engaged in a cause and loving what I do!" The mother of four and grandmother of nine, she loves, to walk, read, farm, eat good food and be anxiously engaged in a good cause.

Charlie is the arborist for Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, an ISA Certified Arborist, and former farm hand at B.U.G. Farms. He is passionate about growing strong, beautiful trees that benefit the surrounding community. Before moving to Utah, Charlie was a professional arborist in Minnesota, mentored at Four Seasons Tree Service for 7 years, organized workshops and conferences with the Minnesota Society of Arboriculture and was a teaching assistant at Hennepin Technical College. Charlie’s favorite trees are oak trees.​

Randy Ramsley of Mesa Farm Market near Caineville, Utah, has dedicated his life to cultivating a sustainable haven on the edge of a 50-acre farm. As the founder and guiding force, Randy's passion has transformed the market into a thriving oasis amidst the red rock landscapes of Utah's Colorado Plateau.
With a deep respect for the land, Randy orchestrates a harmonious dance between the cycles of nature and the agricultural rhythms at Mesa Farm Market. The market, operating cyclically throughout the growing season, showcases Randy's commitment to offering fresh, flavorful produce while preserving the natural beauty of the surroundings. More than a pit-stop for travelers, Mesa Farm Market stands as a testament to the enduring harmony between sustainable farming practices and the breathtaking landscapes of the Colorado Plateau.

Tony Richards is a native of Northern Utah, and the fifth generation on a centennial farm. He has a bachelor's and masters degree from Utah State University indegrees in Crop Science / Agronomy and Plant Science. He is the Soil Health Program Manager with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.


He has been involved in agriculture development, conservation planning, and regenerative agriculture research for over 13 years working in Utah, Arizona, Illinois, Ethiopia, and Uganda. He has worked previously for the Howard G Buffett Foundation,Sequoia Farm Foundation, Morrell Agro Industries, and is currently a board member of A.R.I.S.E. International. He is a founding member of the Utah Soil Health Partnership

Danielle graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in forest ecosystem management and conservation with a minor in horticulture. She went on to pursue a career as a professional arborist. In 2019 she was a Minnesota state tree climbing champion. In January 2021 Danielle came to Utah looking to start a new chapter in her life. Wanting to learn how to grow food and share here love of trees she began working for the Salt Lake County sheriff's office. There she began caring for 2 acres of food crops and 6 acres of landscape. She has become very passionate about local agriculture and strives to do good for her community. Her favorite tree is American elm and she looks forward to sharing here love of trees and passion to work on them with you.

Marc Roberts grew up in Provo Utah. Served a 2 year mission for his church in Argentina. A Civil Engineer graduate from Brigham Young University and played on the BYU basketball team.

Elected to the Utah State Legislature in 2012 and served for 8 years in the Utah House of Representatives. Marc served on the Business and Labor Committee, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, Political Subdivisions Committee, the Sentencing Commission, as Chair of the House Government Operations Committee and Co-Chair of the Administrative Rules Committee. Marc was a consistent advocate for local farming, agriculture and food production. He sponsored and passed several pieces of legislation including the Homemade Food and Consumption Act ("Food Freedom"), Cow Sharing, Mobile Raw Milk Sales, and Shell Egg and Poultry Amendments.

Co-founder and COO of a payment technology company in Spanish Fork, Zift and serves as a board member for the Red Acre Center for Food and Agriculture. He currently lives in Salem Utah with his wife Casey and 5 kids.

Chandler Rosenberg is the founder of the Utah Food Coalition and director of the Utah Farmers Market Network. She grew up in Holladay, Utah and graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy. After working in the plant-based nutrition world, she shifted her focus to local agriculture once she understood how corporate-controlled, fossil-fuel-driven is killing people and the planet while exploiting farmers for shareholder profits.



She is committed to aligning Utah agriculture with the realities of our arid environment here in the mountain west — meaning, increasing the amount of food grown locally — in a way that regenerates our soils and stewards our scarce water resources — with a priority for food for Utahns. Chandler is also the co-founder of Save Our Great Salt Lake and sits on the board of Wasatch Community Gardens.

Owner of Sego Lily Farm. President of the Utah Cut Flower Association.

Laci Tagge has been working Farmers' Markets since she could hold a knife and sample a peach. There was one time in her life when she worked at Farmers' Markets every day of the week.
Since having two kids, Laci now trains Tagge sellers to attend farmers' markets and works only Saturdays at the Murray Market selling over 3 pallets of peaches.
Tagge's has been selling at Farmers' Markets since the downtown SLC market opened. They were one of the first vendors. In 2023 they attended 12 markets a week: Herriman, Park City, VA medical, Bountiful, West Valley, murray, South Jordan, Daybreak, Draper, Downtown SLC, Provo, Ogden and Wheeler Farm.

Phillip Taylor is the Executive Director for The People Restored & TPR Foundation. Experienced in revenue growth & legal strategy, Phillip co-founded The People Restored to build economic & legal solutions for producers & families to ensure they have success in an increasingly hostile world.

PennyTrinca owns and operates First Frost Farm, located in Nibley, Cache County, Utah, with her husband Bill Masslich. It is a five-acre certified organic produce farm, selling cool season vegetables at the Cache Valley Gardeners' Market, Park City Farmer's Market and Salt Lake City Downtown Farmer's Market.

Utah's Farm to School community event serves as a gathering point for dedicated advocates in the Farm to School and Farm to Early Care and Education realms, providing an invaluable opportunity to celebrate shared achievements, foster meaningful connections, find inspiration, and collaborate to nurture the growth of farm to school. This workshop will provide farmers, ranchers, and school districts with information and an opportunity to discuss Utah Farm to Fork.

Jessie Westover of Hidden Creek Farm LLC began her farming journey in 2012. Her unconventional property sits on 8 acres surrounded by 28 back door neighbors in Farmington Utah. Her farming journey began producing hay and grass fed beef and lamb. In time she felt her local community could also benefit from fresh produce. For two years she offered produce to a community too busy to stop for a tomato but always desiring the few flowers she offered. She moved into growing cut flowers and has never looked back to her produce stand. She now presents over 20 varieties of flowers which she offers wholesale through Picklinq, a company she helped create.

Tom Wheatley is a late bloomer and he has bloomed as a meat educator. Tom, a lifelong Utahan, spent over 30 years in various corporate roles, not at all related to food or meat. As a lifelong hunter, Tom always enjoyed the butchering aspect of converting wild game into table fare. Nearing retirement his butchery urge became so strong he decided to learn to grow and butcher pigs. So naturally he moved, bought some land (not too much) and built a butcher shop complete with a walk-in cooler. Then he read the book that changed everything: Camas Davis’ Killing It. In this book she chronicles her transition from corporate America to that of a butcher, meat educator and meat activist. Camas founded the Portland Meat Collective and became the model for Tom and a few others across the country to offer transparent meat education. Tom found opportunities to work in meat shops cutting wild game to working alongside some of the best butchers in Utah while learning the trade and how to teach butchery. Tom, who owns and runs the Utah Meat Collective, offers public and private classes usually hosted at his on farm UDAF approved meat shop. Tom teaches a variety of publicly available classes like whole hog breakdown, cased sausage, bacon, and poultry processing. He is also busy teaching eager individuals in private classes on skills they want to learn.

Stephen Workman of Mountain Man Flowers is an artist by trade but after years in big cities his creative energy had run low. He moved back to his family's 800 acre ranch in Morgan Utah in 2016 . He began adding flowers to the landscape as a way to beautify the property. But he soon fell in love with the idea of growing cut flowers. Stephen's first year of flower farming was filled with making deliveries of his lush bouquets around the Wasatch front. It only took one season for Stephen to realize there had to be a better way. After he helped create Picklinq he now successfully sells his over 18 varieties of specialty flowers.