LAND OF PLENTY

Land The of Plenty

Food, Farming and Food Insecurity

UNCW alumni Mari Carl Fisher ’10 and her husband Daniel Fisher ’14,’16 moved back to Wilmington, NC to create Rise Up Community Farm, a nonprofit that offers chemical-free produce at a “pay-what-you-can” rate.

Mari Carl Fisher ’10 grew up in a small, tight-knit, rural town in southern Virginia. As a Seahawk, applied learning opportunities opened her eyes to food insecurity and poverty, igniting her passion to be a part of the solution.

“During my time at UNCW, I had my first experience serving folks in the community who were experiencing homelessness. I decided that I wanted to pursue a career related to food, farming and food insecurity,” Fisher said. She focused her Honors thesis on organic farming and spent a summer working to transition a portion of her family’s land in Virginia to organic farming methods. After interning at the Florida nonprofit The Fruitful Field, she became their farm manager.

“It was there that I was able to put what I learned through my Honors thesis into practice. I was able to see the fresh produce I was growing make an impact on my neighbors experiencing food insecurity and other health disparities,” she said.

Fisher made her way back to North Carolina where, in 2019, she established and currently manages Rise Up Community Farm, a nonprofit that offers chemical free produce at a “pay-what-you-can” rate.

As volunteers (many of whom are UNCW alumni and current students) exchange the expected food puns “Turnip for what?,” and “I don’t carrot all,” as they mulch, seed and rake, Fisher’s vision of building community through gardening and farming is realized.

“Rise Up was founded out of seeing a need for everyone in our community to have equal access to fresh produce and opportunities to create meaningful futures.”

– C.C.