Team Backstory
The Peruvian Farmers consist of 6 women from Urubamba. They are all mothers, from 30-60 who had previous careers as nurses, cosmetologists, teachers and government workers. Their love for the earth and the environment is the common and powerful thread that brings diverse set of women together in perseverance and passion.
10 years ago a Peruvian engineer visited the community to share the health and environmental dangers of using chemical sprays and pesticides. Even though the overall community had moved away from natural and traditional farming methods, the woman knew in their heart that it was the right thing to do for their community, their families and their land, mother earth, Pachamama.
The woman started with tiny plots to feed their families healthy food. Little by little their farms grew. The original 30 farmers dropped down to only 6 in the Sacred Valley, but somehow through incredible difficulty rehabbing their land, learning independent business and working with the municipality to share and educating the community of the importance of healthy land and healthy people, they remained but just barely.
Their tiny market stands were pushed to the back of the main market, in a low traffic area next to the meat products because some of the vendors in the collaborative market found their practices threatening to their own beliefs and ideas even though outsiders and westerners would search high and low for their high quality, tasty veggies.
Their passion, perseverance and compassion showed they as stayed unified and continue to grow their farms, their families and their community. They continually feed the hungry and give back to the most needy families with a passion for caring for the elders in the high mountains whose families have shifted to the the modern way of living and they are left alone on their homesteads as well as children without proper clothes or nutrition.
Women of Canastas
The Women of Canastas Verdes work hard on their farms in the Sacred Valley of Peru to produce organic and healthy vegetables and fruits for communities throughout the region.
Marlu-48
Was a professor and trained in cosmetology. Left her old job 10 years ago to start working a small organic plot and now has her own home and multiple fields. Eventually wants a children’s program to teach kids 3-up about organic farming. She is the key organizer that helped keep the woman unified and stable. Single mother.
Magda-48
Worked as a nurse. Passionate about health and caring for the land. Powerhouse and fierce woman speaks wisely.
Maria-60
Powerful old elder with quiet wise eyes. She doesn’t talk much but when she does, everyone stops to listen. She reminds us that this work is what their ancestors did and they lived in the mid hundreds and it’s simply the right thing to do.
Liz-41
Shy but with a big Smile, and the youngest and always has a baby on her back.
Lucia-50
Left her career in Nursing to become an organic farmer. Wants to share with others her love of the land and healthy agriculture with her community. She brings the woman together as a mediator and listener. Single mother.
Brenda
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Megan Youngmee
Pennsylvania small-town girl. South Korean Adoptee. LA business woman. USC grad. Corporate drop out. Freelancer with an Andean view. Mom of 2 rambunctious boys.
She’s designed everything from children’s books, websites, pitch decks, national ads, and best-selling products. Disney, W Hotels, Urban Outfitters, Harvard Law, BCBG and the Oprah Winfrey Network are some of her past clients. She also helped raise over 70 million dollars for budding startups. After helping get 2 successful, multi-million dollar start-ups off the ground, she decided at 30 it was time to take a sabbatical to focus on writing, photography and studying philosophy. She moved to South America, helped create Casa de Tres Osos, a top guest home in the Sacred Valley, Peru with over 400 guests and only 5 star reviews in under 2 and a half years. Now Megan consults and supports companies large and small all over the world.
Eric Oberholtzer
An ever-learner, master builder, incredible musician, super-dad, chef, certified perma-culturist and mensa-genius. Eric has been building things since he was a boy from a farm family in Pennsylvania. He is hands-on renaissance man and carpenter who can handle plumbing, electric, framing, furniture building and finishing. He’s permaculture certified, and spends all his spare time becoming an expert in all things Ecobuilding and Sustainability. Eric’s past-life career was helping build rock-star stages with Tait Towers for Rollings Stones, Lady Gaga, Bon Jovi, Metallic, Madonna and Michael Buble, to name a few. Eric was responsible for outsourcing and working with fabrication, purchasing and contract negotiations for multi-million dollar sets. While he handled delicate client relationships, he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty driving large trucks and hand-delivering important parts with intense deadlines.
Partners
Our partners mainly include local organizations in need of healthy vegetables but do not necessarily have the money for it. We partner with these groups to help feed them organic and healthy meals. Additionally, we have begun partnering with groups looking to volunteer and intern in indigenous communities.
Yanapasun
Therapy School for Disabilities and Early Learning Programs-Donation Recipient Partner
Amistad Sagrada
Indigenous Education and Nutrition-Donation Recipient Partner
Rainbow House
Local Orphanage-Donation Recipient Partner
Niños del Sol
Local Orphanage-Donation Recipient Partner
Linguistic Horizons
Study Abroad and Internship Program-Volunteer Partner