Why
USA
Team USA is made up of volunteers who serve in various capacities to "share the recipe of FARM STEW."
The Challenges
The USA is not just the home of the free and brave, it's the land of the obese, diabetic, chronically inflamed, pill-popping sick.
- Over 1/3 of our children are obese and 1/2 of adults
- More than 1 in 4 adults have NO ONE to confide in
- Many people opt out of church attendance and gravitate toward addictive behaviors
What We're Doing
Just as in Africa, we seek to equip families and communities to live an abundant life, not as the world defines it, but as Jesus did:
- We encourage meaningful connections through FARM STEW Farm Hands
- We equip people to learn to garden
- We promote a whole foods, plant-based diet
- We celebrate the rewards of giving because Giving Gives Back!
Our Projects
In
USA
The following projects are how we teach our eight ingredients to locals. Learn more about how you can get involved.
Check back soon for a new initiative.
(See our ongoing projects below to learn how to get involved.)
(See our ongoing projects below to learn how to get involved.)
What We're Doing
Teaching Best Health Practices & Biblical Values
We use our eight ingredients to help impact the lives of rural farm families in Uganda, with hands-on training in their villages
USA
The Team
These are the people bringing the FARM STEW message to this area.
Allen Underwood
Data Entry Clerk
Cherri Olin
Domestic Operations Director and Board Secretary (non-voting)
Ednice Wagnac
Public Health Analyst
Elizabeth Kreidler de Santa Cruz
Foreign Operations Director
Frederick Nyanzi, PhD
FARM STEW Foods Board Member
Greg Cranson
Volunteer
Hannah Olin
Office Assistant
Jordan Cherne
Volunteer
Joy Kauffman, MPH
Founder and Executive Director
Karissa Ziegler
Volunteer
Lucia Tiffany, MPH RN
Curriculuim Coordinator
Steven Conine
Volunteer
Sylvia Middaugh, MS, RDN
Volunteer
Todd Olin
Graphic Designer
Wyatt Johnston
Africa Academic Program Coordinator - Volunteer-Malawi
I have been attending the Adventist Church since 2014 and a member since 2016. God has done a lot of tremendous things in my life and I enjoy sharing with others about what He has done for me. I want to work for FARM STEW because it is a God driven organization. FARM STEW helps others learn and grow, but they also bring others closer to God at the same time. It is rare that any business or organization does something like that these days. It is not about the people working for FARM STEW. It is about those that are in need and about God. “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me.”
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Allen Underwood
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Allen Underwood
Data Entry Clerk
Cherri joined FARM STEW because of her love for God and His church. She is a gifted administrator and has served as church treasurer for more than a decade. She graduated with an associate’s degree from Southern Adventist University and served as a Senior Human Resource Management Assistant for Loma Linda Medical Center. She worked in the Human Resource field for over ten years before becoming a wife and mother of two. She enjoys helping and serving others through church outreach and various community programs, such as cooking schools, women’s prayer groups, and youth activities. FARM STEW’s unique way of meeting people’s needs while sharing the gospel message is what has drawn her serve with Joy and the FARM STEW family. She now serves as the Assistant to the Executive Director of FARM STEW. Cherri also serves on several board committees.
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Cherri Olin
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Cherri Olin
Domestic Operations Director and Board Secretary (non-voting)
Ednice Wagnac works as a Public Health Analyst for FARM STEW International. She started as a volunteer in August 2019 while completing her Master's in Public Health program at Andrews University and graduated with her degree in August 2020. She has a passion for community health and nutrition. Her role with FARM STEW includes monitoring and evaluating FARM STEW certified homes and coordinating efforts to translate the FARM STEW curriculum into different languages such as Spanish, Swahili, and Arabic. One of Ednice's goals is to spread the good news of Abundant Living to her country of origin, Haiti. She enjoys being on the FARM STEW team and is blessed to be a part of the work of using God's word to improve the lives of many.
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Ednice Wagnac, MPH
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Ednice Wagnac, MPH
Public Health Analyst
Elizabeth has a calling to serve people in need, looking for strategies to alleviate poverty and
distress enabling them to have a dignified life, and hope for eternal life by knowing and loving
Jesus Christ. She initiated her professional life as a translator and interpreter from German,
French and English to Spanish, specialized in the aeras of health, education, business, and
religion. After earning a Master’s degree in Administration with emphasis in International
Community Development from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, she served in
the leadership of implementing ADRA offices in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Burundi. She
also gained considerable experience in higher education as a lecturer in the Universidad Peruana
Unión, and in the financial and administrative leadership of the Universidad Adventista de
Bolivia. Her multi-cultural background helped her appreciate the uniqueness of people’s
thinking, expressions, and customs, as well as to confidently address different audiences. She
joined FARM STEW´s team because she believes in the value and power of the Bible-based
principles and sound science trainings that FARM STEW is promoting to achieve an abundant
life. Elizabeth looks forward to FS entering new countries and offering permanent training in
demo centers. She is a pastor´s wife, mother of three grown-up children, and grandmother of 6
lovely children.
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Elizabeth Kreidler de Santa Cruz, MSA
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Elizabeth Kreidler de Santa Cruz, MSA
Foreign Operations Director
Dr. Fred is an expert food scientist with a heart for his people of Uganda. With 20 years experience with the United States Department of Agriculture, prestigious internships with the United Nations Development Program’s Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN), and industry experience with Loma Linda Foods, Dr. Fred is well poised to contribute to FARM STEW’s vision to help rural families thrive. He is inspired by FARM STEW’s mission to help families feed themselves and seeks to help expand the benefits to the communities and countries where FARM STEW operates. Dr. Fred has been married 37 years to his wife Norah and they have 4 children.
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Frederick Nyanzi, PhD
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Frederick Nyanzi, PhD
FARM STEW Foods Board Member
Greg Cranson grew up on a 130-acre farm in southeast Colorado in the Arkansas river valley. "Growing up with eight brothers and sisters in a one-bedroom house and an outhouse has given me the greatest opportunity to be immersed in learning basic life skills, creative play, hard work, a love for the land, its creatures, and for the one who created it all," Greg says.
After working for a plumber and learning the basic skill of plumbing Greg moved back to his father's farm and continued market gardening and growing grain. In 1981 Greg, his wife Addie, and six children, moved to a 135-acre fruit, vegetable, grain, and livestock farm. To fulfill their vision of teaching and sharing God's love through lifestyle education, Greg’s family and their community, have created a non-profit organization, which has been operating for many years. The farm also has a Trading Post that helps support local farmers. Greg's greatest joy is sharing the Gospel message through an agricultural lifestyle. With their strong belief that God is calling his creation "Back to Eden", Greg and Addie are excited to see what God is doing in partnering with FARM STEW to share the Gospel through our relationship with the land and one another!
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Greg Cranson
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Greg Cranson
Volunteer
Hannah Olin
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Hannah Olin
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Hannah Olin
Office Assistant
Jordan Cherne graduated from Southern Adventist University in 2019 with a BS in Business Administration and a BA in International Studies - Spanish Emphasis. In college he first became acquainted with FARM STEW, and fell in love with its mission of helping others live life abundantly. His international business club chose to sponsor FARM STEW, arranging for founder and executive director Joy Kauffman to come to the campus to give a presentation, as well as hosting fundraisers with all proceeds being donated to FARM STEW. Jordan has always been drawn to agriculture, and in 2021 opted not to continue his pursuit of medical school and started his own small farm instead. He is excited to now be helping with FARM STEW USA, and is looking forward to helping share the Recipe for Abundant Life with those who need it most.
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Jordan Cherne
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Jordan Cherne
Volunteer
Joy Kauffman, MPH, is passionate about health, hunger and healing in the global body of Jesus Christ and the world. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from both Johns Hopkins University with a Masters in Public Health and from Virginia Tech with a BS in International Nutrition. She was a Presidential Management Fellow with the US Department of Health and Humans Services, serving for 6 years in the Bureau of Primary Health Care. Joy later led a Federal grant at her local county health department promoting healthy, locally grown foods and famers. She is also a graduate of the National Soy Research Laboratory International Soy program, a certified CREATION Health Instructor and a Master Gardener through University of Illinois. She’s the founder of FARM STEW, a recipe for abundant life. It is designed to address the root causes of hunger disease and poverty, offering a hopeful witness to the world that points to the true Source of abundant life, Jesus Christ.
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Joy Kauffman, MPH
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Joy Kauffman, MPH
Founder and Executive Director
Karissa Ziegler grew up in Colorado enjoying her family’s large vegetable garden. In 2019-2020 she spent a year serving as a student missionary in Cambodia. She graduated with an associate degree in horticulture and landscape from a local community college. Finding her passions in mission work, helping others, and gardening, Karissa was looking for a career that would involve all her interests. Early in 2021, she began learning more about FARM STEW, and getting more involved, after years of only knowing of its existence. Karissa joined the FARM STEW USA team in December of 2021. She is excited about using FARM STEW’s recipe for Abundant Life to bring hope to the “least of these”.
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Karissa Ziegler
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Karissa Ziegler
Volunteer
Lucia is a nurse/health educator with a passion for making a difference in people's lives. Her experience with the Adventist Development & Relief Agency, both in the U.S. and in West Africa, fed her desire to collaborate with FARM STEW as a way to continue that impact on those in greatest need. As a daughter of God, she couldn't be happier than to be a part of the team sharing His recipe for abundant living with others.
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Lucia Tiffany, MPH RN
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Lucia Tiffany, MPH RN
Curriculuim Coordinator
Steven Conine is a young farmer passionate about developing the connection between agriculture, education, and evangelism. He graduated from Andrews University in 2019 with a BA in religion and horticulture, and since then he has worked on institutional and family farms in Alabama, Kentucky, and Arkansas. He has also spent months volunteering and speaking overseas in Asia and South America. Steven joined the FARM STEW team in January 2022 and is excited to bring the gospel to many others in a useful way through the principles of abundant life.
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Steven Conine
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Steven Conine
Volunteer
Sylvia loves God and people. With roots in Africa, she is a wife, mother of two young adults and a registered dietitian nutritionist. Her passion is helping others have a better life. FARM STEW's recipe for abundant life lines up perfectly with this desire. Sylvia wants to mobilize others to share the recipe for abundant life.
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Sylvia Middaugh, MS, RDN
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Sylvia Middaugh, MS, RDN
Volunteer
Todd Olin
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Todd Olin
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Todd Olin
Graphic Designer
Wyatt Johnston volunteers as FARM STEW International’s Academic Program Coordinator. He began working with FARM STEW during the fall of 2019 after graduating from Oregon State University with a bachelor's degree in Botany. Wyatt and his wife, Alyssa Johnston, are FARM STEW missionaries in Malawi overseeing the delivery of FARM STEW’s curriculum to universities throughout Africa and also working with FARM STEW teams to develop/document their media presence. He is inspired by the ability of the FARM STEW message to give the poor, sick and hungry the physical and biblical tools they need to lift themselves up out of poverty. And, in the same way that FARM STEW equips others to lift themselves out of poverty, Wyatt’s mission is to equip teachers in higher education with the tools they need to bring their students the Recipe for an Abundant Life.
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Wyatt Johnston
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Wyatt Johnston
Africa Academic Program Coordinator - Volunteer-Malawi
FARMING
ATTITUDE
REST
MEALS
SANITATION
TEMPERANCE
ENTERPRISE
WATER