Love is Love Cooperative Farm

Beginning in 2008 as the heart-work of Joe Reynolds and Judith Winfrey, Love is Love Farm aspired to demonstrate that young, land-less farmers can build a successful farming operation and actively serve the good food movement through mindful land stewardship. In 2018, Joe and Judith came together with a group of bright, ambitious, experienced, and educated young farmers, Monica Ponce, Russell Honderd, and Demetrius Milling, around a shared vision to farm collectively. Beginning in 2021, Love is Love Farm converted to a worker-owned cooperative and began farming on 70 acres in Mansfield, GA on land we will ultimately own through The Working Farms Fund.

Monica Ponce (The Planner)

Monica Ponce’s life has revolved around food and service. In 2004 she went to Georgia State University to study Anthropology with a focus on cultural diets, food systems, diseases, and demography. After graduation, she itched to get her hands dirty and volunteered on various farms throughout the southeast. By 2012, recognizing her passions were rooted in growing good food and the connections between food and people, Monica went back to school to study Environmental Horticulture at Gwinnett Technical College. During her time there she worked at the Wylde Center managing two inner city gardens and the garden coaching program conducting edible schoolyard consultations. In 2013 she helped build an urban farm in Atlanta and became a vendor at the Grant Park Market. In 2014 she completed her diploma in Horticulture with a certificate in Sustainable Agriculture. Shortly after, she farmed at Anne Quatrano’s Summerland Farm where she grew specialty fruits and vegetables for the Star Provisions restaurant group. When west Georgia called her home, she managed the vegetable CSA at a small family farm while gaining experience in pasture raised livestock management. She sold vegetables, beef, pork, and poultry at the Roswell, Brookhaven, and Peachtree Road Farmers Markets for the Heritage Farm. Monica then found herself eager to learn how to scale up a vegetable operation and become more mechanized while still upholding organic standards. She accepted the position of assistant manager during the inaugural year at Rodgers Greens and Roots in Douglasville, GA where she was responsible for greenhouse management, irrigation, and packing/delivery to restaurant and wholesale accounts. In 2018 Monica and her then fiancé decided to take a stab at farming together and pursued an opportunity to manage a 1.5 acre garden for the Greyfield Inn on Cumberland Island in South Georgia. While focusing on good record keeping and efficiencies, they work closely with the chefs to produce specialty vegetables, fruits, herbs, microgreens, and cut flowers for the all inclusive bed and breakfast. In 2020, she also joined the Board of Directors of Georgia Organics. Monica is thrilled to be working with this collective and invested in growing more organic food for north Georgia.

Russell Honderd (The Motivator)

Russell began farming while living in Michigan where he observed the social, environmental, and economic impact sustainable food systems create in local communities, and he decided to pursue farming as a career. He attended and taught at the Organic Farmer Training Program at Michigan State University. On his return home to Georgia, he spent three years transforming a conventional nursery into King of Crops, the King of Pops farm before moving to Cumberland Island with his partner to manage the Greyfield Garden. He’s excited to return home to the Atlanta area and build on a sustainable farm business with Monica and their farm partners.

Demetrius Milling (The Skeptic)

Demetrius Milling is the Assistant Farm Manager at Love is Love Farm, where he helps with team management, crop planning, and day to day operations. Demetrius began his farming career at Brightside Farm in 2014, an urban farm in Atlanta, Georgia, the same city in which he was born and raised. While getting his first exposure to the business of local agriculture on-farm, he was encouraged to further his knowledge through higher education; that led to Gwinnett Technical College. While earning an Associates Degree in Horticulture with a concentration in Sustainable Agriculture, he achieved the Deans List and earned the award of student of the year for his program. After graduating, he managed the on-campus farm - growing, selling, and donating food to the Lawrenceville community.  In 2016, he excitedly joined the Love is Love Farm team as a part-time employee and has diligently worked his way up to his current position. Demetrius enacts servant leadership by being on the boards of the Dekalb/Rockdale County Farm Bureau, Georgia Farm Bureau Vegetable Advisory Committee, and the Gwinnett Technical College Horticulture Program. While he is grateful to have accomplished this much in a short time period, he is eager to help lead local agriculture into the future.

Judith Winfrey (The Captain)

Throughout her career, Judith has focused on combining her passions for good food and radical karmic leadership to develop businesses that empower, nourish and enrich people. She has been recognized as one of Atlanta’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders by Atlanta Magazine and as a “Woman Who is Changing the Landscape of Leadership” by the New York Times. Judith brings a broad spectrum of experience and knowledge.  For 5 years, she led a meal kit delivery business, shipping nationally direct to consumers.  She served as COO of Linton Hopkins’ hospitality management group during tremendous growth and a James Beard win. Since 2008, Judith and her husband Joe Reynolds have co-owned the celebrated Love is Love Farm, a certified organic farm growing a diversity of vegetables and fruit through soil-based agricultural practices. Love Is Love Farm provides produce for a 300+ member CSA group and sells directly to restaurants in the Atlanta area.  The granddaughter of a Georgia sharecropper, Winfrey is a strong force in Atlanta’s local food and farming advocacy community. She is the co-founder of both Wholesome Wave Georgia and Community Farmers Markets, and served as leader of the Atlanta chapter of Slow Food International as well as Regional Governor for Slow Food USA.  She proudly sits on the board of directors of Project Threadways and the Rodale SE Center and is a member of Les Dames d’ Escoffier and Southern Foodways Alliance.

Joe Reynolds (The Counselor)

Joe Reynolds began farming in 2005 while working at Crystal Organic Farm in Newborn, GA. Together with his wife, Judith Winfrey, he started Love is Love Farm in 2008 in Douglasville, GA. In 2009, we recovered from a devastating flood and ultimately moved our farm business to Gaia Gardens, located in Decatur, GA, in 2011. Love is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens is certified organic, grows for a 200-member CSA, several restaurants, and a few local food aggregators. Joe values collaboration with other farmers which has led to employing and mentoring young farmers, partnering with other farms for the CSA program, and serving on Board of Directors of Georgia Organics and as the organization’s Board Chair from 2018-2019. Joe also serves as a farmer representative on Board of the Southern Cover Crops Council. Joe has participated in professional development through the Center for Civic Innovation Food Fellowship (2018) and the Executive Farm Management Program (2019). Joe is motivated by consistency, cooperation, and growing capacity in local, organic