Keynote: Cultivating Community, Wellness and Purpose Through Food and Farming

Ardis and Henry Crews
Keynote Address - Friday, January 26, 2024
Recorded during the OAK 2024 Conference in Frankfort, KY, January 25th-27th.
When a farmer plants a seed, its future growth is unknown and its full potential can only unfold when nurtured. When Ardis and Henry Crews started a community garden in 2014, they planted seeds with a modest vision of personal and community health. The garden flourished into a certified organic micro-market farm, and the neighborhood became an agri-hood. A decade later, those early seeds of intention have expanded into a multi-county development initiative that serves its rural community with affordable healthy food, nutrition education, economic development and health services. In this keynote presentation, Ardis and Henry will share their inspiring story of growing with purpose: tackling critical issues within their community, building farmer networks and partnerships to serve the community's most vulnerable members and revitalizing local economies with farming as the foundation.