Jena Hood, a former EarthDance apprentice, joined the EarthDance farm team in 2018. They became Farm Manager in 2020 and are now the Director of Agriculture and Education. Jena grew up gardening alongside their parents in south Georgia and has always had a garden to tend, including during college where they grew herbs in pots on the windowsill of their dorm room. Prior to making a career change to farming full-time, Jena spent time Wwoofing on homesteads and farms throughout the country, living off-grid and learning the ins and outs of subsistence gardening and farming. With a background in social work, Jena is inspired to “be the change.” They are specifically interested in creating increased access to local, farm-fresh food while addressing issues of food justice. They hope to inspire others to believe in ecologically minded, organically guided agriculture as a sustainable model for the community, for the planet, and for the farmer. Jena believes that garden by garden, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, each partial effort is a step in the right direction.