VERMONT (2016)

Food systems justice starts with who controls the land, who does the work, and who sees the money.

While studying environmental studies at the University of Vermont, Molly worked with marginalized farming communities in rural Vermont to examine the feasibility of building an elderberry cooperative. She interviewed farmers, buyers, growers, and harvesters, analyzed market conditions, and built a needs assessment using qualitative research methods.

The work was as much about relationship as research. She worked with advisory committees to open real lines of communication between people who rarely sat at the same table, using survey methodologies and case study analysis to find where the gaps were and what it would take to close them.

It was early work. But it established the practice she has carried into everything since: go to the community first, listen carefully, and do not leave without giving something back.