Common Roots is pleased to welcome four AmeriCorps VISTA members who will spend the coming year supporting the organization's vision of improved food education, food equity, and local organic farming in the South Burlington area. Each member will help continue to grow Common Root’s organizational capacity for community engagement, volunteer coordination, communication systems, and fundraising and development.

AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) is a national service program designed to address poverty and strengthen communities across the country by placing members in nonprofit organizations and public agencies that support this goal.

Matisse Arnone will serve as the Food Equity Systems & Partnerships VISTA and will help build connections and expand community outreach. Matisse was heavily involved in local food access organizations in his hometown of Iowa City, and recently graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy, a concentration in Environmental Planning, Policy, and Law, and a minor in Food Systems. In college, he chaired the Committee on the Environment for the UVM Student Government Association and sang bass in UVM's only competitive a capella group, Viridescent. His favorite thing to make with Common Roots produce is pesto with all of the fresh basil from the farm!

Elijah Ghia will serve as the Volunteer and Community Engagement VISTA member, where he will build pathways for newcomers and involved members to explore Common Roots at every level. Ghia’s love of farming began at age six, when he started raising chickens and selling eggs in his community in southern Vermont. As an adult, he learned about food systems in Vermont while working on several farms in their fields and farm stands, and he studied Community Centered Design at the University of Vermont, focusing on community engagement and resilience planning. When not outside, he can be found baking pies or out dancing Contra and West Coast Swing. Ghia is looking forward to learning more about the art of canning, particularly for pickled beets.

Evan L’Roy will serve as the Communications and Storytelling VISTA member, where he will help coordinate the organization's messaging to Vermonters. L’Roy got his start in media working for nonprofit newsrooms as a photojournalist covering state politics in Texas. Before arriving in Vermont, he also taught as an outdoor educator on an organic farm in New York, planting the seeds of interest in community agriculture and food systems. As much as he loves Vermont, he does miss the Tex-Mex cuisine of home, so he is excited to make salsa from the harvest of tomatoes coming from the Common Roots farm.

Libby Moss will serve as the Development and Revenue Diversification VISTA member. She will support fundraising, grant coordination, and mission-sustaining revenue systems. Moss grew up in Bali, Indonesia, surrounded by rice paddies and swimming amongst colorful fish in the ocean. Over time, she noticed that increased urbanization replaced farms and beaches with hotels, leading her to Vermont to study how communities can grow in relationship with their land and environment through education. She recently graduated with a degree in Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy, and a minor in Environmental Studies. For Libby, the smell of Chef Tony’s red sauce cooking in preparation for Common Roots’ Flatbread Friday events always reminds her of making tomato sauce with her dad growing up.

Common Roots works to connect people of all ages with healthy, local food and the land that produces it. From teaching Farm to School education in South Burlington School District, running an organic farm and farm stand in South Village, and cooking community meals for events at the historic Wheeler House homestead, Common Roots continues to pursue its vision of a thriving local food system in which everyone has equal access to healthy food.

“This is a significant opportunity for Common Roots because each of these positions is focused on an area where we know we can do more,” said Rob Fish, the Executive Director of Common Roots. “I hope that the systems and relationships they help build this year will continue benefiting Common Roots and the community long after their service is over.”