Taiguey! Hola! Greetings!

I am honored to serve as the President of SUAC for 2023/24. My hope is to continue the mission and expand the reach of of SUAC BY advocating, educating, and mentoring our community to create a more equitable and sustainable food system.

We will also push the envelope past sustainability into a regenerative model and explore indigenous and permaculture models.

Our success does not rest upon the knowledge and efforts of a few, therefore I entreat those of like mind to join us. I look forward to productive collaboration to life up Tampa Bay as a model to be replicated in other communities. Please join us!

Born and raised in St. Pete. She first became in engagecd with Urban Agriculture when she decided she wanted to eat more salads, but noticed how sometimes instead of being consumed they would waste away in the fridge. After noticing this the thought came that would provoke the action “I can grow this stuff” and onward to the vastness of the internet to learn the process of where to begin. Permaculture was the system that made the most sense, and she went on to read Gaia’s Garden and take her first Intro to Permaculture Class in May 2018 in at Grow Permaculture in Brooksville. She was so taken that her front yard exploded into guilds and piles of mulching the very next day! Attending 1st SUAC meetingin June and In October 2018 completed the Permaculture Design Course and became a regular at SUAC Meetings working to be more and more involved with everything Urban Ag.

I graduated from USFSP Honors Program with a degree in Geography with a concentration in conservation of society and the environment and a minor in Environmental Policy. I am the owner of Laica Worms and Vermicast LLC where I teach worm farming. The art of using Red Wiggler Worms (Eisenia fetida) to transform food scraps into worm castings full of nutrients for any type of soil. I supply the worms, worm castings (vermicast), teach how to set up a worm farm, how to care for the worms and control invasive pests organically without using chemicals. I am also fluent in Spanish and have lived in St Pete for 20 years. 

Robert (Bob) Murphy is a senior citizen and an advocate for environmental justice. He’s a volunteer for the organic  garden at the Sunshine Center in Saint Petersburg and he’s involved in other mutual aid programs.     Bob is a community minister (Unitarian Universalist)  with training in public health work.