Fountain Heights Farms, Birmingham, AL
Project Snapshot:
Fountain Heights Farms is expanding their use and demonstration of their aquaponics learning facility. The facility will teach various options for aquaponics setups, including deep water culture tanks,) media beds, nutrient film techniques, and proprietary soil blend raised beds. They want to serve as a regional learning site where low-resource and underserved communities in Alabama can come to learn more about raised bed farming, aquaponics, and how to implement the best system for their area.
Bio: Maria Dominique Villanueva is the Executive Director at Fountain Heights Farms and the founder of the BIPOC-centered food cooperative #WeAllEat. She has spent the majority of her career in a variety of settings but always focused on health and justice for marginalized and oppressed communities. In addition to her food justice work, she is also involved in local mutual aid work and advocates for language access for limited English speakers. Outside of work, Dominique stays busy guiding her three children to adulthood and serves as the official dancing queen of her own kitchen.
Christopher Gooden has always had a passion for nature, starting his career in plant propagation and cultivation for a retail nursery before opening his own landscape design company. With over 20 years of experience being a steward of nature he now shares his plant wisdom with others, serving at the Farm Director leading workshops and volunteer groups at Fountain Heights Farms. Off the farm, Christopher is both Baba and homeschool teacher to his three children and founder of Sprouts Homeschool P.E. Collective, encouraging athletics, sports, and physical fitness for homeschooled children.