Joseph Kiefer grew up on a small-diversified family farm in the Hudson Valley of New

York State. As the oldest son of six kids his farm chores with cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and a

mean old rooster, taught him much about caring for the land and being a farmer. He received his M.A.

in Social Ecology from the Institute for Social Ecology in Plainfield Vermont in 1980. In 1982 he

was asked to be part of a Community Task Force on Hunger with the Central Vermont Community Action

Council in Barre, Vermont. As a result of this quiet crisis he started a Garden Science / Hunger

Education Program with local schools. At the Main Street Middle school a Garden Lab of raised bed

gardens, small fruits, fruit trees and a compost was set up with a bed dedicated for the Emergency

Food Pantry. This Task Force quickly learned that this dramatic increase in demand for emergency

food was being experienced around the state and decided to investigate starting a Food bank for the

state. In 1986 Joseph Co-founded the Vermont Food bank. In 1985-86 he served on the Governor’s Task

Force on Hunger attending six regional hearings around the state. Upon completion of these projects

he cofounded Food Works with a mission to address the root causes of childhood hunger by starting

school gardens and food education programs. In 1997 Food Works teamed up with Shelburne Farms and

NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) to start VT FEED (food education every day). In 2006

Food Works helped launch the first Food Bank farm in Vermont growing exclusively for emergency

feeding sites in the state. At Food Works Joseph was the Director of Education and offered

professional development courses and workshops to teachers, food service staff and community

organizers on how to grow, process, cook and store locally grown foods. He has taught at California

Polytechnic University at Pomona, California, Trinity College, Goddard College, The Union Institute,

The College of St. Joseph and Johnson State College and Castelton University all in Vermont. He is a

co-author of “Digging Deeper” A comprehensive Guide to School and Community Gardening and “Living

Traditions” Teaching Local History Using State and National Learning Standards. Joseph now works as

a Food Justice Consultant working with the Good Food Good Medicine Program at Highgate Housing and

Green Acres Housing, the Vermont Community Garden Network as well as the Vermont Rural Partnership.

He serves on the Boards of Just Basics Inc. in Montpelier and Highgate Housing in Barre Vermont, as

well as on the cross cutting Food Access Team of the Vermont Farm to Plate Group. He lives with his

wife Amy and their two dogs Chester and Molly on the White Dove Herbal Sanctuary in East

Montpelier