Michael Seliga 
I focused much of my coursework in the Community and Environmental Planning Program at the University of Washington on integrating urban planning and sustainable food systems because food affects everyone every day, and has impacts the economy, public health, social justice, and environmental sustainability–Can you believe some of our best agricultural farmland is underneath the South Center Mall?! I initiated a chapter of “Food Not Lawns”, an informal volunteer-based organization dedicated to replacing lawns with edible gardens. Later, while traveling in Central America, I realized how disconnected I was from my food; I had eaten dozens of bags of peanuts without ever knowing how they grew. This motivated me to work for local farms upon my return to Washington State to obtain more on the ground experience. Soon after I started Cascadian Edible Landscapes, working double time as Garden and Greenhouse Manager at Seattle Youth Garden Works, and later as a nutrition educator with low-income K-5th Graders through the WSU-King County Food $ense program. A main focus of the curriculum is fresh fruits and vegetables–which are difficult to access due to this population’s financial constraints and the public’s lack of gardening knowledge. This motivates me greatly to build edible landscapes at sliding-scales rates through Cascadian Edible Landscapes (CEL), and I am looking for partners and allies to make it happen.
Stephanie Snyder
My deep commitment to social justice and food justice brings me into the garden/farm scene. I currently work with GRuB (Garden-Raised Bounty), an Olympia based non-profit dedicated to the mission of “good food for all people.” My work there has included coordinating the installation of over 100 free back yard gardens for low income people through their Kitchen Garden Project (KGP), supporting their Cultivating Youth employment program as a youth counselor, and facilitating the overlap of the KGP and the Cultivating Youth program. Cascading Edible Landscapes’ mission is very similar to GRuB’s. CEL’s commitment to a more just and local food system in King County inspires me as truly revolutionary work.
Jake Harris
I am addicted to social justice. One way I feed this addiction is by growing food and assisting others in doing the same, because my vision for the future is small sustainable local communities growing our own food, which happens to be how things were done in the past . The act of growing our own food is not just about getting healthy nutrient rich food right on our doorstep, but also a way to fight corporate power, improve our collective lifestyles, and create community. My background is in community organizing, working with Citizen Action, WashPirg and Students for Social Justice on a variety of programs as well as creating the bonds of community right here in Seattle. He has been a proffessional landscaper for the past three years, and during that time grew food as a side project. Largely self taught in edible landscaping and sustainable practices, he is excited to share the knowledge he has acquired and to be working with a knowledgeable and committed group of individuals to further his goals both personal and collective.
Chris Omer
After graduating from the University of California Santa Barbara, I worked as an environmental educator and later as a Garden manager for a CYO site outside Monroe, WA. I have worked with the WSU extension-Food Sense program for three years, help Cascadian Edible Landscapes with various projects and have a growing repertoire of other landscaping talents and projects of my own.