Mission Statement
It is the mission of Wilder Magnolia Homestead to produce foods with high ethical standards and low environmental impact, providing high quality products to low resource communities in our area. Through the foundation of an improved Boer Goat breeding program, sustainable land based market gardening, and mixed species management, WMH utilizes a diversified farm system to help b
etter the natural and man made communities around us. Description of Business
Wilder Magnolia is a family owned farming operation with the mission of improving access to ethically produced and environmentally responsible meat and produce for Henry County, Kentucky and the food insecure Black and POC communities of Louisville, centered around a place-based improved Boer goat breeding program. Emily and Max both grew up in the urban center of Louisville, and spent much of their young adulthood actively involved in civil service and locally based civil justice movements. Emily has over a decade of volunteer experience through the Crisis and Information Su***de Hotline, assisting in mental health outreach programs for at risk groups and individuals, and political lobbying experience that resulted in mandatory su***de education training in Kentucky School Systems. Max has spent nearly as long volunteering in various positions assisting the Portland Avenue Community Trust, which provides a zero cost clothes closet and food pantry to residents of the downtown Portland neighborhood. During these years Emily worked in various divisions of the Kentucky horse industry, and with a passion for agriculture extended that experience through becoming a student of the Kentucky Small Ruminant Profit School. Falling in love with goat production, she pursued continuing education through the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture's Master Small Ruminant Producer Certification program. It was at this time where Emily was nominated to the board of Directors for the Kentucky Goat Producers Association, where she finished out a three year officer term as Secretary to the organization, and became enrolled in the 12 person cohort of Sterling College’s Wendell Berry Farming Program, where she obtained a B.A. in English Literature and double minor in Sociology and Psychology, Max went on to act as an intern for the progressive independent Louisville publishing company, Sarabande Books, and later accepted employment with Norton Audubon Hospital as a Patient Care Associate, aiming to return to school to become a registered nurse. These unique experiences placed Emily and Max in the position of seeing first hand the power and importance of healthy, sustainable food access to urban communities, and the role that food access inequality plays in systemic poverty and oppression, particularly in Black and Brown communities. Goat meat is arguably one of the most highly consumed protein sources in the world. At present, the demand for goat meat (Chevon) from ethnic and non ethnic populations alike within the states is so high that we currently import more Chevon than producers are able to raise, creating a perfect market point for new and beginning farmers. Emily’s passion for sustainable, place-based agriculture and the Boer goat breed and Max’s dedication to promoting healing and good health in the community have led to the development of Wilder Magnolia Homestead’s improved Boer Goat breeding and production model.
