Growing Green Awards Winner

Congratulations go out to Molly Rockamann, Founding Director of EarthDance, who is the recipient of one of The Natural Resources Defense Council’s 2011 Growing Green Awards. The awards honor farmers, business leaders and promoters of sustainable food. The four winners were selected from hundreds of nominees by an independent panel of sustainable food experts.

Rockamann, of Ferguson, MO, is the winner in the category of Young Food Leader. She was recognized for her efforts to cultivate a new generation of sustainable farming stewards in the Midwest. Through EarthDance, Molly’s unique apprenticeship program, urban St. Louis residents—with ages spanning five decades—learn the complete cycle of organic farming from seed to market. Now in its third year, 42 apprentices have completed the 9-month training program. Encouraged by Molly's leadership and vision, EarthDance apprentices have gone on to establish their own farms, initiate farm-to-table summer camps, start school and community gardens, and run Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs.

“I created EarthDance to preserve a small farm in my hometown of St. Louis, and consequently have watched it grow into a community of learners, growers, consumers and activists who are changing the foodscape of our region,” said Rockamann. “I am humbled and honored to be recognized as the first Growing Green Young Food Leader by NRDC, and I accept the award on behalf of everyone who has contributed to the making of EarthDance. Preserving healthy, bountiful farms takes many hands.”

The 2011 Growing Green Awards panel of judges included Michael Pollan, New York Times best-selling author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Maria Rodale, Chairman and CEO of Rodale Inc., Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner of Blue Hill Restaurant in New York, and Dr. Tom Tomich, Director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at the University of California, Davis.

Other award winners include Jim Cochran, a California strawberry farmer who manages the only 100% unionized organic farm in the country; Chef Ann Cooper, founder of the Food Family Farming Foundation, which helps schools transition away from over-processed meals; and Pam Marrone, the CEO and founder of Marrone Bio Innovations, a developer of environmentally-responsible biopesticides.

Along with her award, Molly is the recipient of a $5,000 prize. She will use some of prize money to take Nancy Schnell, the EarthDance graduate who nominated Rockamann for the award, to San Francisco to accompany her to the awards ceremony. The Growing Green Awards gala, “Food for a New Generation,” will take place at Yoshi’s Restaurant and Jazz Club in San Francisco on April 28.

To watch the video that the NRDC filmed of Molly and EarthDance in action, read her blog post on OnEarth's website, and learn more about the Growing Green Awards, click here and scroll down to 2011 YOUNG FOOD LEADER — Winner.