About
…the OurLocalFoods story |
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| I’ve been in love with food for as long as I can remember. Whether it’s growing food in the garden, cooking up dinner for family and friends, or eating in one of the great restaurants in the places I’ve been lucky enough to live; food excites me. I also love farms. I grew up on one, and my roots are still in the ground. OurLocalFoods represents the culmination of lots of ideas and work all wrapped into an organic farm. I began farming commercially only recently, but spent the last 10 years involved in community organic farming and educational gardens while tucking away the passion and knowledge to forge into the commercial realm when the opportunity presented itself. An idle farm in McClellanville, SC, Thornhill Farm, started me down this path with the role of non-profit volunteer. I was brought in to establish a working organic garden that could be used for therapy purposes for developmentally disabled youth. The small organic garden has become the emphasis on this farm now, with a budding certified organic production area that is 12 acres this year. As a certified Master Gardener with a degree in environmental biological sciences and a mid-career turn to the culinary field, I’ve found a home for all of my passions. The opportunity to steward the 100 acre Thornhill Farm into viable commercial organic production and offer local and organic food to the Charleston, SC area has become my dedicated mission. So, in 2009 I founded Our Local Foods, LLC which is a “social enterprise” that operates on Thornhill Farm in McClellanville, SC. The farm is a production farm, and also home to a farm store, a commercial CSA program, and a few other creative marketing activities, that have helped to establish the farm as an asset to the McClellanville community and a model of local sustainable agriculture. |
 Image courtesy of Jason W. Kaumeyer (http://www.jwkpec.com) |
| In 2009, I also came together with Catherine McGuinn of Kid Gardens and Gary and Mary Beth Thornhill (Thornhill Farm’s namesake) to found Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry. In conjunction with several partners, Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry is dedicated to serving the needs of individuals and families touched by disabilities. Read and learn about Adaptive Gardens here. I try to help out in our community by serving on the Coastal Community Foundation Grants Planning Committee, and have served on the Open Grants Committee in 2007, and was a founding member of the Charleston Philanthropic Partnership, a project of Coastal Community Foundation in 2009. I was a founding member of the School Garden Network, a funding organization for educational gardens serving youth in Sonoma County, California in 2004 while developing and working with educational gardens from 1999 – 2006. | |
| Best Regards,
Maria Baldwin |
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