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Who Are Your Farmers? — Max

Posted by: on Sep 3, 2012

Max Jiusto — Trainer

Max is responsible for teaching new employees harvest techniques and standards.  He shows newcomers what’s expected on the farm, and aims to have that the daily harvest happen efficiently and on time.  Max is 23 years old, from Worcester, MA and is in his second year at RFF.

How did you get into farming? I needed one more credit at UMASS, so I signed up for a gardening course called Garden Share.  Gardening was totally new to me, but I really liked it.  I was graduating that Spring of 2011, so I decided to give farming a shot.  I applied to Red Fire and got hired for the summer.  Since working here, my entire perception of eating food and where our food comes from has changed.  I think from now on, I will always be involved in growing my food in some way, whether volunteering or working on a farm.

 

What’s your favorite vegetable? How do you cook with it?  Onions.  I put them on everything.  I make what I call the “RFF Burrito” with black beans, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers and a green of some sort, usually spinach.  I prefer red onions best.

 

What role does farming play in the rest of your life?  For a while, I’ve had a growing interest in our country’s food system, as well as more generally, our world’s food system.  I thought that working on a farm seemed like a good place to start learning more about food production.  Red Fire represents the new wave of organic agriculture.  I hope we can get more and more people into this way of farming, and relying less on industrial farming.  This year I’m hoping to get into canning and preserving food.  It makes sense to put food away for the winter seeing that there is such bounty on the farm.  Tomato sauce is my goal this year.

 

What do you like to do when you’re not farming? I love to play music.  I play guitar in a band called Adult Fiction and I also play saxophone.  I’m also a wild man on the dance floor.  Going out to dance parties is probably my favorite thing these days.

Max is an eligible bachelor who will charm you on the dance floor, and serenade you with his saxophone melodies.