Co-Founder and Program Director of FoodCorps, Outreach Director of the National Farm to School Network, and a farmer, Ms. Eschmeyer has 15 years of farming and sustainable food system experience. Growing up on a dairy farm in rural Ohio, Ms. Eschmeyer was ingrained with an understanding and appreciation of agriculture at an early age. She is dedicated to making safe, affordable, healthy food available for all people.
Working from her organic farm, Harvest Sun, in Ohio, Ms. Eschmeyer oversees the FoodCorps program development for service members working on school gardens and Farm to School programs while deciphering policy and building partnerships. While serving as a Kellogg Food and Society Fellow, Eschmeyer created One Tray, a campaign that successfully encouraged Congress and USDA to expand Farm to School programs. Ms. Eschmeyer has placed hundreds of Farm to School articles in media outlets around the country including the Wall Street Journal and TIME magazine. Ms. Eschmeyer served as an editor for “Food Justice,” as a contributor to the documentary Lunch Line, and has authored several Farm to School publications. Debra's previous nonprofit work spans the globe in the humanitarian, conservation, sustainable agriculture and food justice realms. She is currently serving on the Center for Ecoliteracy's Rethinking School Lunch Advisory Council; the Agriculture, Food Systems and Food Access Subcommittee for the CDC Weight of the Nation Conference; and on the Design Team of Live REAL, a new youth led food justice organization for historically excluded communities.
