FarmOn! Foundation

FarmOn! Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, is working to fill the succession gap on family farms in rural America. Rapid changes in rural economies have transformed the agricultural sector. Increasingly, independent and family-run farms are being left with nobody to run them, as young people continue to migrate to urban centers in larger and larger numbers. FarmOn! wants to be part of the solution. We create and fund educational programs to provide the next generation of farmers with the skills and experience necessary to ensure that they can continue to feed us sustainably, ethically, and profitably.

We believe that, by nurturing and inspiring the entrepreneurial spirit of young people, we have the potential to revive rural economies nationwide. It is our goal to provide a replicable model for conscious food production and distribution that we can then export to communities around the country.

The FarmOn! movement started in 2011 and was founded on four guiding principles that govern our decisions everyday by a board of directors who authentically live mindful of agriculture through an entrepreneurial lens to lobby for the family farm and rebuild rural prosperity in America.

FarmOn! Creates and Provides: educational experiences on a working organic farm, advocacy in policy work, entrepreneurship training for young and beginning farmers with economic development and farm tech consulting for people to experience a connection to where our food comes from and why it remains paramount to the survival of the family farm by training the next generation to feed us.

We envision a world where sustainable agriculture is valued and profitable.

We invite you to learn more and get involved with your friends and family by taking action. Every child should serve on a farm! Start the conversation with us @FarmOnFarmOn or visit us at Empire Farm anytime of the year.

Our Mission: inspiring, educating and preparing youth for successful careers in sustainable farming.

Our Vision: a world where a career in sustainable agriculture is valued and profitable.

We are a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and public charity.

Tax Identification number: 46-1999952

Read about FarmOn! Foundation on Charity Navigator and GuideStar, a nationwide source of information on nonprofit organizations.

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A Letter From Our Board Financial Info 501(c)(3) GuideStar Report

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

TESSA EDICK

Founder & Board Chair

FarmOn! Foundation Founder, Food Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Author

BIO

JOYCE VARVATOS

President

Art Advisor JoyceVarvatos.com and Partner of John Varvatos, Graduate of Cornell University School of Agriculture

BIO

KIPP EDICK

Secretary

Graduate of Columbia University, Graduate of Yale University School of Architecture, Former Architect at Adjaye Associates, Partner at Architectassociates.com, FarmOn! at Empire Farm Architect

BIO

MATTHEW KELLEHER

Board Member

Graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Head of Digital Marketing Transformation, Google

BIO

ADVISORY BOARD

ALICE WATERS

Advisor

American chef, restaurateur, activist, author and owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine and the Edible Schoolyard Project

BIO

STACEY HENGSTERMAN

Advisor

President & CEO Special Olympics New York, Former Associate Vice Chancellor for SUNY Relations and Chief of Staff

BIO

MELINDA MURPHY MORSE

Advisor

Former Executive Director Enlighten Next 501(c)(3) and Retired Ernst & Young Executive Human Resources

COHEN & MARDEROSIAN

Advisor

Board Counsel: Stephen Cohen and & Mark Marderosian New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts

ELIZABETH BLAU

Advisor

Founder/CEO Blau + Associates, widely credited with transforming Las Vegas into a world-class culinary destination, graduate of Cornell University School of Hotel Management

BIO

ERIC WILLIAMS

Advisor

Partner at Nitavonne.com and former NBA Professional Athlete, Boston Celtics

BIO

Our Four Guiding Principles

COMMUNITY

A place where community gathers and engages in nature with food and agriculture experiences at an organic working farm.

SUSTAINABILITY

Providing project based learning for youth to learn soft skills, healthy lifestyles, how to eat, how to do business and why it is important to work and earn.

COMMERCE

Economic Development is the cornerstone of agriculture and why we must view farming as a profitable, noble and respected profession is based in how we buy food.

SUCCESSION

By training young farmers in the business of food and connecting rural and urban marketplaces for commerce with volume, we aim to fill the succession gap on the family farm with with the next generation to feed us honestly by providing viable livelihoods that pay a fair living wage to sustain and profit.

A heartfelt thank you to our sponsors!

Our Generous Partners and Sponsors make Friends of the Farmer possible. We invest in our local community who in turn invest in us. We don’t pay lip service to socially responsible investing. We partner with locally based farms, artisans and producers that we know intimately, and know to be stewards of their community and the land. A partnership with Friends of the Farmer supporting the FarmOn! Foundation ensures that your brand is working in tandem with like-minded locally based organizations for the betterment of the local community, its commerce, sustainability and succession for the next generation to secure viable livelihoods in agriculture and continue to work hard to feed us well. We are proud to support the farming community and the activities of the FarmOn! Foundation with your support. Our tightknit community of food, farming, people and businesses are continuously helping one another succeed.