Nicolás Garcia
Current Practices: Treehouse Urban Farm- Regenerative, Hügelkultur, Dry Farm, Specialty Crops, Native Ecotypes, Micro-livestock, Value Added Products, Traditional Medicine Boys Grow- Educational, Regenerative, Junior Vocational Training, Farm to School, Specialty Crops, Poultry, Micro-livestock, Agro-tourism, Value Added Products Agricultural Background: Guerrilla grower, yard farmer, and founding member of several Kansas City and Lawrence area community gardens 2000 – 2013. My wife and I secured a 1 acre urban lot in 2013 and spent the next 3-5 years building soil in hügelkultur beds and planting successions of annual specialty crops and medicinal herbs. In 2018 we were able to make the switch to farming full time and selling plants and produce to neighbors and local restaurants. In 2020 the restaurant market shut down for nearly 2 years and we shifted to pay-what-you-can and mutual aid. 2023 we began to transition the land to rest a season while sheet mulching and I took employment managing a 10 acre non-profit farm focused on teaching youths agriculture, culinary, and construction skill sets. Statement from candidate on serving: I have spent the last 21 months as a NYFC Land Fellow learning about federal agriculture policy and engaging my members of congress with my concerns and interests regarding the future of US Agriculture. Since 2008 I have been actively engaged in local policies pertaining to Urban Agriculture. In 2021 I was nominated and elected Secretary of the Kansas City NYFC Chapter I have engaged area young farmers in local and state agriculture policy. I serve as a mentor to some 50 youths at Boys Grow Farm in South Kansas City teaching liberation through community empowerment. At every level from the neighborhood, to municipality, to county, state, region, and nation, food policy is paramount to liberation. There is policy that is made in small rooms of government offices, and policy that is made when neighbors embark on breaking ground making what was vacant lot into common ground, and making friends of strangers. I am focused on pushing local and federal policies to support and facilitate urban agriculture and urban empowerment initiatives. I want to gather stories of local initiatives thoughout the states and know what has worked and what has failed and the who/what/where/when/why/how of it all. I have my experiences that have shaped my views but I want to learn of the experiences of many many others to know how policy should be shaped moving forward.