By Ashley See, CFSA Communications Coordinator & Firsthand Foods| Thursday, Mar. 7, 2019 –
How do three masters degrees, two mothers, and 30 family farms add up?
In honor of women’s history month, we’re shining the light on the co-founders and co-CEOs of Firsthand Foods, Jennifer Curtis and Tina Prevatte Levy.
While we’ve written about how this women-owned, Durham-based business works, what we haven’t explored is how this dynamic duo came to owning and running a specialized meat business that works with local farmers and processors to allow meats to be in the hands of consumers within a few days of processing.
So let’s take a closer look.
First up is Jennifer Curtis who grew up in a family that valued gardening, cooking, and wilderness exploration. Jennifer’s academic background is in public health, including a masters from UNC’s School of Public Health.
After college, she put her passion to work all over the country, starting on sustainable agriculture issues at the San Francisco office of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Working with farmers inspired Jennifer to start a consulting business that worked with organizations like World Wildlife Fund and Gerber to build bridges between farmers and environmentalists.
In Wisconsin she helped create on-farm habitat for sandhill cranes; in Florida, she helped cattle ranchers protect the Everglades; she worked with sweet potato growers in Louisiana on ecological approaches to pest management.
After moving to Carrboro in 1996, just two weeks after Hurricane Fran, she learned about hog production in Eastern NC. At the time she thought, “Someday, I want to work on a project that addresses sustainability in hog farming.” Ten years later, she met the amazing folks at Central Environmental Food Systems who needed a director for NC Choices – a project designed to help small-scale, pasture-based livestock producers learn how to sell their own meats.
This project was the lightbulb that would one day become Firsthand Foods, but only after Jennifer met her business partner Tina.
Or in their own words:
“We first connected as business owners around a shared passion for using business as a tool for generating social and environmental good. We’re also moms, whose kids love to eat meat.
“When we met eight years ago, we were disheartened by the lack of local, sustainably-produced proteins available where we like to eat and shop. So we rallied around that problem and today you can find our meats at numerous area restaurants and natural foods grocery stores in the Triangle and Triad, as well as being offered by multiple home delivery services.”
Not all CFSA members are farmer-members. CFSA’s membership base also consists of gardeners, consumers, and businesses just like Firsthand Foods. There’s room for everyone at the table. Want to pull up a chair?