Jon is an experienced climate action farmer who has trained with leading regional grain and seed growers. He draws on 12 years experience leading multi-racial, multi-lingual teams across multiple counties and countries as well as on his practice of production agriculture on three farms across the U.S. before starting Home Farm.

Jon’s roots connect him to the Buffalo area, where his family immigrated from Transcarpathia and Sicily two and three generations ago. He arrived to the valley in 2019 after work in Haiti, Miami, and the midwest, took a deep breath at the sight of the mountains, and committed to building a Home Farm here.

Jon has built & co-led several agricultural projects and holds driving vision for the future of food security in the face of climate chaos. As the Coming Home Seeds projects are growing, he continues to support of the Sweet Freedom Farm team in Germantown which he has co-led and rebuilt with Jalal Sabur since 2020.

Jon honors his agricultural lineage and education: the peasant farmers of rural mountain towns in Haiti, Nikolai Vavilov, Vandana Shiva, Masanobu Fukuoka, Judith Ann Carney, Josh Smith, Heinz Thomet, Nazirahk Amen, and several beloved others.

Jon is supported by his life partner, Char, who brings a rich understanding of and background in agriculture, organizing farms, and village-scale community collaboration. Their deep collaboration & thought partnership sustains the values and vision driving all the projects of Home Farm & Coming Home Seeds.

Home Farm is also grateful to be collaborating with two part-time team members in 2024: Chris Matute & Robin Ellis