Vero Vergara & Caitlin Elhers, aka Sweet Hollow Farm, bring a revolutionary vision to the world of farm stands and the future of food access. In practical terms, they supply unique varieties of culturally appropriate vegetables from their worker-owner growing cooperative in Woodinville. They also supply ROAR farm stands with infrastructure to accept SNAP/EBT payments, and staff the hypest-ever Wednesday stand at Meridian Center for Health. When they’re not busy teaching middle schoolers carpentry skills and supporting visitors to the King County Libraries, they are organizing growers and eaters across the region and building resilient & subversive food culture. Stand by.
Claire West engages food justice as an ecologist,
an organizer, and a woman of faith. She believes that nurturing our relationships with the earth and each other is the most important work we can do. As Top Turnip for 2019, Claire is lead on all things administrative and thanks you in advance for your patience.
When he’s not playing keys and fronting his band Swingset, Jordan Lowe gets it done for food access. A friend of ROAR through the years, and former culinary education champion at Pike Place Market, Jordan helps out on Thursdays at Seattle Indian Health Board, schlepping veggies and pop-up tents and pinch-hitting wherever he’s needed. Thanks, Jordan!
TEAM ROAR - ALUMI & HONORARY MEMBERS
Serena Streitman has been volunteering at the West Seattle Food Bank since she was 12 years old. A running start student and member of the All City Marching Band, she somehow made time to staff farm stands in High Point, Rainier Beach, and Hillman City in 2017. She has a deep connection to vegetables, seen here with Earl the Giant Cabbage. Her social media game is top-notch, her makeup is always on point, and she is ready to read your tarot. She returned for 2018 at High Point and the Seattle Indian Health Board before starting school at Western Washington University.
Mia was 2018 boss of veggies at Plaza Roberto Maestas. A veteran line cook from Chef Tarik‘s Morningstar pop-ups and graduate of In the Kitchen with Chef T, she knows what you need for your next amazing meal. She is also active with Seattle Capoeira Center and an aspiring physician. Find her at doing the good work at El Centro in north Beacon Hill, often with her mother Joanne and gorgeous baby sister Aafiya and something delicious from Tacos Chukis.
Paul Lambert grew up in Flint, MI. He and his future wife, Mary Ann, meet in Michigan while both were working as camp directors for the YMCA. They relocated to Seattle in 2007 and bought a home in the Delridge Neighborhood in 2008. His daughter Anna Marie will be a second grader at Louisa Boren Stem K-8 this fall. PJ Lambert, Anna’s younger brother, will be at the same school starting kindergarten. Paul is a residential remodeler by trade and training, he left his job after 10 years to take a more active role with his kids as they started school and regularly volunteers at the school. Paul has been a founding member of the Delridge Grocery Co-op since 2013, and with the fast development of the neighborhood and the Co-op as yet not being open, Paul decided to see what he could do to bring fresh food into the Delridge Community. That is how he got connected with ROAR!
Queen Nyema Clark is farm boss at Nurturing Roots on Beacon Ave & S Graham St. in Beacon Hill. A native to south Seattle, Nyema’s entrepreneurial chops shine in her efforts as a beginning urban farmer. Proprietor of Avenue South, a line of natural health and beauty products, Nyema is deeply dedicated to the wellness and healing of her community. Come say hey at a Sunday farm work day, be embraced by her radiating love, and get a tour of the farm — there are chickens!
When she’s not doing Community Outreach for the High Point farm stand, Liz Davis works as a Reiki master, leads weekly walks for Black community health in the Central District (tweet her @walkablefro), is always crafting and creating, speaking truth and bringing love to neighborhoods all over Seattle and beyond. Hear about the work in her own words on this video documentary on ROAR’s High Point partnership with P-Patch.
Carmen Berrysmith is an experienced farmer and veggie slinger, and came to ROAR following her time with Tilth Alliance Garden Works and Got Green’s Young Leaders in the Green Economy. An ace at customer service and merchandizing, she staffed farm stands in High Point and Rainier Beach in 2017. Now supporting youth development for the Boys and Girls Club, you can find Carmen looking fabulous at all the best south-end spots in her native Rainier Beach.
Raised in Texas, Elliott Smith received his Masters in Public Health from the University of Washington (COPHP) and also has experience working for a local family foundation. He believes in the power of food to build community, and he’s an avid gardener, cook, fermenter, and canner of local goods. He moved to Austin in his home state of Texas in 2017, but lived in Hillman City and supported community events at the Collaboratory. If he were a vegetable, he’d be a artichoke.
