A selection of hot sauces produced by Blue Mountain Vegetable Farm, one of the FoodCorps alum-run small businesses featured.
Hot sauces by Blue Mountain Vegetable Farm.

FoodCorps alumni move into all kinds of careers after service with FoodCorps. Many of them become stewards of their own farms or produce other goods to sustain their communities. 

Below, learn about a few alumni-operated and supported small businesses. We hope you’ll support them during the upcoming holiday season and all year long! 

FoodCorps Alumni Small Businesses 

Blue Mountain Vegetable Farm, Destiny Schlinker (AR ‘14, ‘15)

“We are a small farm in the Arkansas River Valley. In addition to our flowers and veggies, we make farm fresh hot sauce and ship all around the country. We have a wide range of flavors for you to enjoy!”

Support Blue Mountain Vegetable Farm at their website. 

Awesome Herbs, Katie Neskey (MT ‘13)

“As a small family business freshly rooted in Butte, Montana, we craft small-batch herbal teas and culinary herb blends. We save the seed, plant, weed, harvest, dry, garble, process and package our herbs, all by hand, to deliver the freshest, most flavorful teas and culinary blends straight to your cup or kitchen. Our herbs are grown organically with rich compost applications, thoughtful cover-cropping, and crop rotation—we never use chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. ‘Drink yer herbs!’”

Support Awesome Herbs at their website. 

Nekko Wellness, Tasia Yamamura (HI ‘14, ‘15)

“I love to grow plants and Nekko is one way that I utilize abundant harvests and preserve seasonal herbs until the next year. I use what I grow, forage, and source from other small farms to make salves, tinctures, face and hair serums, floral bath salts—botanical body care. Folks can DM me on Instagram to order.”

Support Nekko Wellness via their Instagram. 

MetLiefsHandicrafts, Kelsey Ioannou (MS ‘19, OR ‘20)

“’Met liefs’ means ‘with love’ in Dutch, and every piece of jewelry, embroidery, and other custom gifts from Met Liefs Handicrafts is made with love from my small village here in the Netherlands. I also sell greeting cards, stickers, and other artwork!”

Support MetLiefsHandicrafts on Redbubble.

Benevolence Farm, friends of Brett Rapkin-Citrenbaum (NC ‘21)

“We offer candles and body care products made with herbs and flowers grown right on our farm! The products are designed, curated, and finalized with support from our residents, women joining our community as part of our reentry program after incarceration.”

Support Benevolence Farm at their website.