Board of Directors

Greg Brown

Greenleaf Farms is the second year project of Greg and Maeda Brown, city dwellers who decided to buy land, move to Barnesville, GA and make a go of serving as sustainable farmers. Some of their unique selection included squash and huge watermelon in addition to fresh greens and Maeda's home made bake goods. This year the farm will be launching a Community Supported Agriculture progra

Linda Scharko

Growing up in a family, where a large amount of what we ate came from our family garden, I learned early the value of growing your own food. Over the years I have been with my husband, Tony, we have always had a vegetable of some sort. Along with our family landscape business, we have always loved being near the earth, playing in it, and enjoying the fruits of our labor. As we continued, we came to be more aware of the value of sustainability and enriching the soil, not just feeding the plants we were growing. We can blame Georgia Organics partly for this and say thanks. A few years ago a friend of ours started selling at the Morningside Farmers Market and later at the one in Carollton, Ga. It seemed like a lot of fun. So we shared a booth with him for a while. We discovered how wonderful it is to be around fellow farmers and folks in general who have similar values for growing your own food and enriching the earth . For a couple of years, we had a booth at the Carollton Market, then the Fairburn Farmers Market. We still are a vendor at the Fairburn market. Starting last summer, we added the East Atlanta Village market, which have come to love.

Heath Turner

Heath was born and raised in rural Alabama, where good food was synonymous with fresh, homemade and typically homegrown, food. To hear him tell it, his first memory was sitting on the kitchen counter watching his mother hand-knead biscuits. Although distinct from what you might usually think of when considering sustainable production and distribution practices, his family and community had an intimate understanding of the benefits of knowing your food from seed to plate.

As an undergrad, he attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, with a double major in psychology and environmental studies. As one might expect, studying environmental science in Iowa provided ample opportunities to explore the impact of commercial farming practices on our physical and social environment. After Grinnell, he took advantage of a few years in the mountains of western North Carolina working in restaurants, providing him with the opportunity to work alongside organic farmers, procurers and foragers. It was during this time that he became a certified food-junkie and gained awareness of the slow food “revival” as he was introduced to the work of folks such as Chef Scott Peacock and writer/social anthropologist John T. Edge.

After attending law school at Emory University, he and his wife decided to settle down in East Atlanta, where they both became, and continue to be, extensively involved in a number of community organizations. Heath is currently the vice president of the East Atlanta Community Association and served on the 2007 Strut organizing committee - East Atlanta’s largest annual neighborhood festival.

Drawing from his professional background of representing a wide variety of small businesses and his leadership in community organizations, as well as his relentless pursuit of the perfect barbequed rib, Heath finds a comfortable fit on the Farmer’s Market board.

Laird Ruth

Larid has a Masters of Public Health (MPH) in International Health and Development in Monitoring and Evaluation from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He currently works as a Micronutrient Specialist for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. His focus involves supporting the planning, organization, implementation, analysis and dissemination of international nutrition survey data. Laird develops and analyzes information on micronutrient (vitamin and minerals) surveillance systems that the CDC is setting up in Kisumu, Kenya and other places. In addition, he works with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to provide training and facilitate workshops to develop micronutrient national plans of action for Middle Eastern and African countries.

Prior to coming to CDC, Liard set up a micronutrient surveillance system during a two-year study on vitamin and mineral supplementation for pregnant women in the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya. He grew up on an acreage near Lincoln, Nebraska where we raised chickens, goats, horses and other pets. They usually had a garden, and he learned everything from fertilizing with manure to freezing and canning vegetables there. He worked with several people to help set up the community garden in Brownwood Park and is passionately interested in community organizing and mobilization to improve mental and physical health and overall nutrition.

Shane Little

Shane is the founder of and a certified Eco-Broker with Avenue Realty based in East Atlanta where he resides.

Jonathan Tescher

Jonathan Tescher strives to use his skills and talents in service for the greater good. His experience includes multimedia production, youth development, environmental and social responsibility, local agriculture, community organizing and event production.

The East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, a nexus for local food and community, was initiated by Jonathan in 2006. He was recruited in 2008 to also manage the Morningside Farmers Market, the oldest farmers market in Atlanta.  Jonathan works from the premise that restorative local food systems create jobs, promote personal health, engage diverse communities and heal the environment.

In 2007 Jonathan’s company, A Bright 21st, produced the first Sustainability Report for the largest consumer cooperative in the Southeast, Sevananda Natural Foods, and produced the youth media internship program for Usher’s New Look Foundation in partnership with PeopleTV and the Fulton County Youth Commission.

As a Graduate Research Assistant for the Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility at Georgia State University, Jonathan co-facilitates simulations addressing issues of sustainability and is assisting in the curriculum development of a Sustainable Business concentration for the MBA program. Jonathan also serves as Co-Chair for Georgia State’s student chapter of Net Impact, an organization of MBA students and professionals dedicated to making a positive impact through business.

Jonathan earned his BA in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin’s Business Honors Program in 2002 and grew up in Miami, FL.

Jeff McCord

Jeff McCord is the owner of Bound To Be Read Books, a mostly used/general bookstore in East Atlanta Village. Jeff is a native Atlantan who likes to say that he has never gone very far in life. He was born at Georgia Baptist Hospital (1959), graduated from Georgia State University (B.S, political science), works a career job at the State Capitol (Georgia Technology Authority) and lives in Grant Park (with cult personality Jef Blocker). He believes in the value and importance of local community!

In reality, Jeff has traveled extensively, having worked in London, completed a studies abroad program in Germany, and done months of missionary outreach in Central America and the Caribbean. Leisure travels have also aken him far and wide.

Jeff has served many community organizations: as Vice-President of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association, President of the Capitol Area Kiwanis Club, a member of the Clayton County Headstart/Community Services Board, and chair of the Administrative Council of Jones Memorial Methodist Church. He is now a member at St. Paul United Methodist Church, where the choir kindly lets him sing with them occasionally.

Besides reading, his hobbies include bicycling, photography, camping and home repairs.