Community Food Systems Alumni Network

Vital Village Networks’ Community Food Systems Alumni Network is a vibrant community that continues to grow in numbers, collective learning, action, healing, and partnerships. Our Alumni Network is composed of land stewards, grassroots data analysts, social scientists, food and birth justice practitioners, and traditional and indigenous knowledge holders. They co-design impactful programs and initiatives that build on their experiential learning and leadership skills to support community-powered food systems. We have fostered an environment where our grassroots food systems leaders are staying involved in three pathways:

1. Remain Rooted: Alumni stayed connected with network happenings, gatherings, opportunities, and resource-sharing. Alumni suggest topics and host spaces to nurture the network through connection and learning in-person and virtually.

2. Serve in a Leadership Role: Alumni served in various fellowship leadership roles, including the annual Fellowship Selection Committee, Alumni Peer Mentor, Vital Village Networks’ Summit Steering Committee, Policy Working Group, and Guest Faculty.

3. Serve as a Co-Steward: Since its inception, we had seven CFSF alumni serve as Co-Stewards and lead the Alumni Learning and Action Hubs. These spaces are for collective learning, information sharing, and mobilization around a central campaign or project that is shaped by the interest and need of the greater alumni network.

2025-26 Alumni Network Co-Stewards

Thank you to our 2025-2026 Co-stewards who lead the design of spaces, structures, and resources for collective learning and action around priority areas decided by the greater CFSF Network. In addition to serving as CFSF Alumni Network Co-stewards, they are all stewards of leadership, community connection, and preserving the land. Please read more below about our 2025-2026 Co-stewards below:

Carmen Alcantara Gonzalez (she/her)
Denver Program Manager, Fresh Food Connect
Denver, CO

Travis Andrews (he/him)
Garden Program Manger, Skyline Urban Ministries
Oklahoma City, OK

Tailor Coble Koch (she/her)
Food Access and Education Coordinator, FRESHFARM
Washington, DC

Thank you for the service and leadership of our 2024-2025 Co-Stewards;

Mary Ann Buggs (she/her)
Student/Mentor, Institute for American Indian Arts

Cassandra Loftlin (she/her)
Goodness Gracious Grocery

Marc Peeples (he/him)
Co-founder, Liberated Farms

Tacumba Turner (he/him)
Community Strategist, Environmental Justice Advocate, Arts and Culture Leader
Founder, The Future is Black

2026-27 CFS Network Policy Agenda

The Alumni Network participated in an adapted consensus building process to co-design a shared food system policy agenda grounded in lived experience and community vision. Through this process, they identified two policy opportunities* to build community-powered food systems that center healing, resiliency, and parent and caregiver leadership. 

To achieve this, the network aims to advance policies that will: 

• Invest in infrastructure for local food hubs

• Increase land access for Black, Indigenous, Latine farmers, and other farmers of color, including community ownership of land