Daron Joffe
Encyclopedia
Daron Joffe is a U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 agribusiness
Agribusiness
In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....

 and nonprofit executive who is prominent in the organic farming
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...

 and biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system. Biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts...

 movements. He is the founder and president of Farmer D Organics and the nonprofit Gan Chaim community-supported farming project.

Education and early career

Joffe was born in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and moved with his family to Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, when he was three years old. When he was a student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

, he took an accredited apprenticeship on a nearby organic farm. Joffe dropped out of school in 1995 and returned to Georgia, where took an apprenticeship at a biodynamic farm. In 1996, he returned to Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 and bought a farm, where he combined organic and biodynamic agricultural practices. In 1998, he was honored by the American Biodynamic Association as the organization’s “rookie biodynamic farmer of the year.” Joffe would later recall that the farm was not profitable, and that he made more money selling organic pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...

 and falafel
Falafel
Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...

 at a farmers’ market in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

.

In 2000, Joffe relocated to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, where he worked as a teacher with the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG). The program, which was based at the Log Cabin Ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains and was run by the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, taught horticulture and farming to incarcerated teenagers.

Joffe, in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...

, praised the SLUG concept of bringing urban youth to a farm setting. "Gardening is a powerful teaching tool because food is so elemental and they get that," he said. "Out here, these kids grow food that they contribute to their communities back home. That's a life-changing experience for many of them."

Nonprofit and corporate farming endeavors

Joffe returned to Georgia in 2002. In January 2003, he received a $60,000 grant from the philanthropic Joshua Venture to establish Gan Chaim (Hebrew for "Garden of Life"), which sought to bring involve the state's Jewish community in organic and biodynamic solutions to a farm in Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

. Joffe compared the concept of Gan Chaim to an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...

, with its sense of community support and self-reliance.

Later in 2003, Joffe created Farmer D Organics, an agribusiness consulting company. The company expanded into producing a line of organic compost
Compost
Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. Compost is a key ingredient in organic farming. At its most essential, the process of composting requires simply piling up waste outdoors and waiting for the materials to break down from anywhere...

 that is sold in U.S. natural products retail stores.

Joffe expanded his public profile through his work as vice-president of Georgia Organics, a nonprofit organization that promotes the state's organically grown foods, and through weekly video features presented on the Mother Nature Network environmental Web site. He has also developed organic farms for the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

 and for low-income communities within the state. In 2005, he began operations for a 13 acres (52,609.2 m²) organic farm at Hampton Island, a private community in Riceboro, Georgia
Riceboro, Georgia
Riceboro is a city in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. The population was 736 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan statistical area.-Geography:Riceboro is located at ....

.

External links

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