Sebastopol native wins new farmer scholarship

Sebastopol native Caiti Hachmyer of Red H Farm in Sebastopol has been named the first recipient of the Nancy Skall New Farmer Scholarship.

The scholarship was launched in honor of the late Nancy Skall of Middleton Farm in Healdsburg by The Farmers Guild and the Sebastopol Farmers Market to benefit the growth of new farmers in the community.

Hachmyer, who has been farming since 2008, will use the scholarship money to transition her farm to a no-till, vegetable-growing enterprise.

The farm offers a weekly vegetable box subscription, has a booth at the Sebastopol Farmers Market on Sundays and provides produce to several restaurants.

A graduate of UC Berkeley, Hachmyer is working to build a biodiverse farming system while advocating for healthy, just food systems through research, writing and activivism. She sits on the board of Petaluma Bounty, a nonprofit working to get healthy food to lower income community members, and serves as a researcher for the Institute for Food and Development Policy, analyzing international policy.