I'm Jim Smith

• Farmed for 8 years in upstate SC growing cut flowers and vegetables and applying Permaculture principles.
• Directed certified organic farm to restaurant operations for The Cliffs in SC - 2008.
• Developed and maintained an organic ginger operation in Costa Rica.
• Operated an organic retail store from the WNC Farmers Market selling amendments, seeds, and tools to local gardeners and farmers - 15 years

Over the course of many years I have consulted on many international projects, from helping develop marketing strategies to restoration of abandoned farms to creating farm to restaurant projects in countries such as Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominica, Jamaica, and Zambia, Africa.

• Taught workshops at Southwestern Community College in Sylvia, NC, AB Tech and Community College, in Asheville, NC, and with both Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, and the Organic Growers School.
• Organized, directed, and taught at The Mountain Sustainable Farming School - 4 years

• Helped organize the Organic Growers School in 1993, that is now 29 years old and draws over 2000 people over a three day weekend, making the OGS Spring Conference the largest event of it’s type in the Southeast
• Chair for the annual Sustainable Agricultural Conference - 3 years
• Represented North Carolina southern region SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) - 4 years
• Served on board of Carolina Farm Stewardship Association - 2 years
• Served on the South Carolina Sustainable Agricultural Committee - 2 years

• 1995 Farm Activist of the Year