Maurice Small

Maurice Small is an independent consultant with 26 years of experience in urban food systems development, youth entrepreneurship training, and soil creation. Maurice inherited his profound respect and love for the earth from his parents. This love for natural process and growth nurtures his strong desire to build community as he teaches and cultivates a regional vision for sustainable agriculture, healthy lifestyles in under-served communities & urban/rural collaboration between growers and vendors. His work to address the development of a more sustainable regional food system began in Northeast Ohio in 1988 with vacant lot reclamation, community garden creation, work with local after-school programs and volunteering with organizations to cultivate urban local food production.

His current contract work
in the Triangle, Triad, Eastern North Carolina as well as food insecure areas of the United States address's urban food system creation, food justice awareness programming and urban soil production with worms.

Maurice is also the first urban farmer to be given the Organic Pioneer Award from the Rodale Institute.