FieldSpeak exists to build resilience in agriculture of the Ohio River Valley by connecting farmers with markets, networks and resources and by promoting a holistic mindset among producers, customers and food system professionals in our region.
At FieldSpeak, we make the link in the minds of customers and farmers alike between regenerating land and healthy, valued food products by encouraging and supporting holistic management and ecological agricultural practices.
Through our partnership with Mt. Folly Enterprises, we help small and mid-sized farmers in our region sell wholesome food to families close to home by developing local systems for processing, aggregating, selling and distributing. This ethos is embodied in our collective motto, “From here, for here.”
Together, we will amplify a cultural shift in our region so that our neighbors recognize food as the essential pathway towards both ecological restoration and personal health.
Our Team
Alice Melendez
“Away” took me to Dartmouth College, to Philadelphia, and then six or so years in Houston. I studied the way that economies and social agreements and hard physical realities interplay in real actual places (not models). I worked at a delivery business and at a refugee resettlement agency. I ran a handyman business and for a short while a grain elevator. I thought for a while that ‘the climate movement’ might generate political will for a massive transformation in the way that humans relate to the natural world and I worked on that. Now, I think it’s time to focus on regenerative agriculture in our Ohio River Valley to ride through whatever comes our way.
CONTACT alice@fieldspeak.org 859.556.0112
J. Dylan Kennedy
My career in farm management was born of a deep passion for agroecology and the role of humans within their ecosystems. My favorite projects are those that blur the lines between conservation and agriculture while engaging local communities in the stewardship of natural resources. I have 15 years experience in building and retooling regenerative farm systems across the USA in a variety of ecoregions. I’m a Certified Permaculture Designer and an Accredited Professional through the Savory Institute.