Kim Rockman
President, Executive Director
In living in and exploring different parts of the country, I continued to see a growing hunger for greater harmony between the natural and built environments. With a passion for extraordinary public spaces and wholehearted, healthy living, a vision began for sharing the small acreage I grew up on in Luverne, Minnesota with the community. In reaching out to others to help the vision come to life, I found Project Food Forest right when the organization was being founded and knew that a public food forest would be a great fit for the site. Project Food Forest continues to be a crucial partner of what has become Prairie Ally Outdoor Center in Luverne. I began to have the desire to be part of creating more spaces like it and connecting with similar spaces that already exist. There are passionate people creating and maintaining food forests all over the world! As the new Executive Director of Project Food Forest, I hope to continue it’s mission, strengthen current partnerships, and establish new partnerships in the Sioux Falls region and beyond; opening up opportunities for individuals, communities, organizations, and agencies to come together to create more food forests and edible landscapes. Food forests give so much more than just food. They hold space for friendships to form, soil to be restored, and inspiration to be born.
Veronica Shukla
Chairperson, Founder
BS in Business Management and Accounting from Buena Vista University; Permaculture Design Certificate from Whole Systems Design
Project Food Forest is my dream, my baby. After a few years of studying sustainability and permaculture, I couldn’t stop picturing food forests everywhere I turned. Finally, I decided imaginary food forests weren’t doing anything. If I wanted to make a difference, I needed to get to work. So I did.
My dream is paradoxically simple and complex. I want to fill Sioux Falls with as many edible plants as possible. I want to construct complex ecosystems throughout the city. I want to reduce our reliance on unsustainable agriculture. I want to reconnect people with nature. As simple as designing and planting edible ecosystems sounds, the affects on our community could be profound. It’s a holistic approach to tackling many of the problems we are facing today, making the outcome complex. Fortunately, others have joined me in my journey, and my dream is now their dream. Together, we’re going to do amazing things.
Boyd McPeek
Board Member, At Large
Boyd McPeek
Board Member at Large
BS in Mechanical Engineering, SD School of Mines & Technology;
Certificate in Risk Management, Insurance Institute of America;
Certified Safety Manager, National Safety Management Society
I am retired from a career that included stints as a loss control consultant, safety director and business process analyst. Now that I have time to do more things I wanted to get involved with projects that support sustainable and chemical free communities. Project Food Forest is one of those projects. Our goals are to make food available in communities using sustainable and safe growing methods. I hope to use my 43 years in the business world, 25 years of chemical free gardening and my family farm upbringing to help Project Food Forest achieve it’s goals.
- Michael Huber – Board Member, At Large
- Abigail Breit – Secretary
- Beth Jensen – Board Member, At Large