Meet Tony
We added to our team and we couldn’t be more excited to introduce you to Tony Thomas.
Why Do you want to be a farmer?
I want to be a farmer for many of the same reasons I wanted to be a designer. I like the feeling of growing and creating something. I like to use my hands to design and build. And I like the way it feels to make others happy through something I have created. A farm is one of the few professions where you get out what you put into it. The harder I work for the farm, the harder the farm will work for me.
Who do you want to impact?
I would love to help people get back to their roots (pun intended). I hate how those that need access to fresh and healthy foods are the farthest from it. I hate how it's not affordable for some families to have access to natural foods. I want to make it possible for everyone to have access to natural and healthy food options no matter where they live and no matter their income. I want to help provide families with the knowledge of growing, sustaining, preserving, and cooking fresh food. A fast food restaurant should not be a person's easiest and only option.
What inspired you to do this?
Seeing how passionate my brother, Benjamin, was about farming rubbed off on me. Growing up in a suburban area, I never saw farming as an option as something I could do. Though, when I started to see people around me get sick and even pass away from food-related conditions, I became increasingly interested in where my food comes from and how it is produced. When Benjamin and his wife, Cori, said they were going to start a farm, I told them I had to be a part of it.
Have you always been a farmer?
Nope, growing up in the suburbs, I honestly thought farming was something you were born into. I never realized a person could just "become" a farmer until I got older.
What have your non-farm chapters been filled with?
Before the opportunity to become a farmer was presented to me, I spent most of my adult life being a graphic designer, competing in weightlifting competitions, and being a loving husband and father. I'm also a HUGE nerd, so I devote a considerable amount of my free time playing video games, collecting comics, and watching Star Trek. "Live long and Prosper" seems like an excellent motto for farming.
What do you think you bring to farming that is unique?
I grew up living the type of lifestyle of the person we hope to reach and educate with our farm. That insight is helpful when selecting what foods to provide and how to impact different communities.
What are your core values?
Love. Love. Love. It may sound corny and cliché, but It is as simple as that. Everything I do, I do my best to make sure it is coming from a place of love. One can't be coming from a place of love if they are deceitful, malicious, hateful, or uncompassionate. So for me, my only core value is love.
