Urban Farmer

A VEGETARIAN SINCE AGE 12, McGlinchey cultivated her passion for food and the environment at Dartmouth, where some of her work still flourishes today. Wander into Collis and you can pick up a Kelly McGlinchey Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Square, a testament to her days as assistant to Collis baker Mary Ann Milanese. Drive by the organic farm on Lyme Road and you’ll see a modern wood barn full of seeds and vegetables, the result of a community effort McGlinchey nurtured as a fellow with the Dartmouth Sustainability Project.

Now in New York City, she cultivates a larger field by introducing children and adults to the pleasures of healthy, sea- sonal foods and advocating for farm-to- table solutions. “To tackle a big issue like climate change, we have to start with the local community, and food is an incredible way to bring people together,” says Mc- Glinchey, who serves as food education director at Butter Beans. It’s a for-profit company that delivers healthy meals to New York City schools and provides food education through cooking classes and summer camps. McGlinchey oversees the camps, which expanded three-fold this past summer. “I love seeing the kids discover that they can grow something. We are inspiring future food leaders,” she says.

Her passion for building community through food extends to her Manhattan apartment building, where she persuaded the landlord to let her plant a vegetable garden in the 8-by-1-foot strip of grass in front of the apartment. “I was amazed at how many neighbors, who usually would walk right past me, stopped to ask what was growing and how they could help,” says McGlinchey, who cultivated Swiss chard, string beans and lettuce last sum- mer. “To me, that’s the power of food to create change.”

McGlinchey brought campers to the rooftop garden at Rosemary’s restaurant in N.Y.C. >>>>

“If we can start this conversation when kids are little, they’ll see the connections between food and the environment.”