Lael with one of her daughters
Lael is our Happy Child CSA Director. Lael’s been overseeing the vision and strategy for our CSA program with Frog Hollow since 2013.
Lael originally hails from a rural community outside of Ithaca, New York. Thanks to her rural roots and health-focused parents, sustainable agriculture and food have been part of her life from the very beginning. Growing up, Lael’s parents started and ran a farm-based yogurt business. As a young girl, she’d earned her keep working on the packing line and handing out samples at farmers markets and trade shows.Though Lael grew up with an understanding of sustainable food, it was a life changing trip to India that really left her present to the power of food systems to shape communities and the environment.
At the time of her trip, in the communities she explored, everyone bought their food in open air marketplaces that doubled as community gathering places. People bought unprocessed veggies along with sacks of rice and lentils – much of it locally produced, sold with virtually no packaging and ready to be prepared into home-cooked meals.
But, simultaneously, she watched as highly processed, packaged food began to penetrate these traditional food systems. In rural communities without municipal waste management, biscuit wrappers and other packaging debris lined the streets. She could see a probable, not too distant future in which packaged, processed foods sprawled across more and more of the dinner time. And, she could see glimpses of the already shifting culture on the health of the communities around her.
With all she’d experienced abroad, she couldn’t help but see food systems here at home with fresh eyes. Walking into modern grocery stores, upon her return and witnessing the rows upon rows of highly packaged, highly processed “food” products left her feeling unsettled to say the least. At that point, it was clear to her that creating sustainable, healthy and nourishing food systems was not only profoundly important to her, but also a powerful way to have an impact of communities overall. Now, a master’s degree and many years of work in sustainable food later, Lael is excited to have found a home at Frog Hollow. She loves working for a such a sweet family farm where she’s always learning more about sustainable agriculture. She also loves getting the chance to stay connected to the beautiful, seasonal cycle of growing food. And, of course, she love’s getting the chance to bring local food systems to life through the Happy Child CSA program. When Lael’s not working, she’s usually taking care of her twin 5 year old daughters. She also loves to cook and get outside to enjoy the bay area’s myriad hiking trails and beaches. And, most recently, she’s reconnected to her longtime passion for dance. After a more than a decade of ballet and a many year hiatus, she’s now stepping into modern dance. So next time you see her at an event, please do say “Hi !”
