Erik Gibson-Snyder,
Local Choice Food Box Manager and 21 Acres Farm Manager

Erik hails from Nebraska, lived in Montana, now lives in Seattle, and has absolute intentions of someday returning to Montana to be a blueberry farmer and a doctor's husband. He attempts to manage his farming life with his family life, and much of what he does is focused on providing support and attention to Jen and Grace, his wife and daughter. That said, when the girls are away he is the first to show up at the farm and the last to leave.

His true passion for farming, and his true enjoyment of the art of organic agriculture helps balance out the days when the turnips are wormy, the voles eat all the seeds in flats, the tractor breaks, and the transplants just died.

Erik's father, Doug, was the first person in the family to leave the family farm in Nebraska, opting for a less hectic and more predictable life of teaching middle-school children. Against his father's advice, Erik returned to farm life joining the Growing Washington team after participating in the Cultivating Success program at Washington State University.

Prior to farming he was the soccer coach at Evergreen State College and The University of Montana. In two short years he has helped double production and total sales, and nearly triple the size of the CSA.

Because of his systemic approach, Erik has greatly improved our record keeping, our crop planning and projecting, our approach to crop selection and management, has influenced the way that our team farms, and has encouraged everyone to grow food with a sense of both purpose and efficiency.