About

Promoting social justice through agriculture for a fairer future

We want to empower people to understand the injustices in the history and current state of our food system and to take action to create a local, culturally-relevant food future.

We founded the Food Justice Initiative in 2021 as a platform to support the new Food Justice Program at Falmouth High School, MA. This program is hopefully just the first in a series of efforts to engage our community in fully realizing a fair future where we can learn from, and overcome, historic injustices and take action to ensure a fair food future in a changing climate.

Land Acknowledgement

We are living and working on the ancestral lands of the Wampanoag People who continue to thrive in the region despite centuries of displacement, land-theft, genocide and enforced assimilation undertaken by white settlers. We are committed to knowing our Wampanoag neighbors better and including their voices in our work.

Our Board

Matt Liles - President

Matt is a system designer for Cotuit Solar LLC. Since graduating from Falmouth High and UMass Amherst he has worked in education, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy. He has participated in various local sustainability initiatives, working for Compost With Me LLC and Nobska Farms Inc., and volunteering for various farming and gardening projects across town.

André Price - Vice President

André is a two-time HBCU graduate, he earned a BS of Marine Environmental Science from Elizabeth City State University and a MS of Marine-Estuarine Environmental Science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. André is a farming enthusiast and has experience in animal husbandry. He is a course contributor to the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program, a diversity effort to bring students from under-represented backgrounds into the environmental science field.

Marcia Macedo - Secretary

Marcia is an ecologist with a deep commitment to social justice and sustainability. She is an Associate Scientist and Water Program Director at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, where she studies the effects of land use and climate changes on the forests and people of the Brazilian Amazon. When not working, you may spot Marcia rowing, puttering in her home garden, or volunteering with various community organizations around Falmouth. Marcia serves as the Secretary on the FJI Board.

Krista Hennessy - Treasurer

Barbara Burgo

Barbara Burgo is the Co-founder/Clerk/Curator of the Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum and Cultural Center, Inc. She has a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and is an active gardener at the Emerald House Community Gardens helping to grow culturally specific crops while educating students and their families on the importance of eating fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Barbara has been growing food in her backyard gardens for over 50 years

Advisory Group

Greg Watson

Director of Policy and Systems Design at Schumacher Center for a New Economics

Julia Leshin

Horticulturist

Garden Educator

Lisbeth Liles

Teacher, Falmouth Public Schools

Megan English Braga

Attorney at Law

Former Falmouth Selectboard Member

Onjalé Scott Price

Chief Operating Officer, Mizar Imaging

Co-Director, Woods Hole Partnership Education Program

Falmouth Selectboard Member

Ben Harden

Co-founder, Food Justice Initiative

Food Justice Instructor, Falmouth Public Schools

Woods Hole Partnership Education Program Course Director