Andrew Chahrour

Andrew grew up in Ohio, received an Environmental Studies degree from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, and has worked within several sectors of the food & water world. Working with the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming he documented the recession of Aspen stands, researched the impacts of livestock management practices, and was introduced to the top-down approach of improving management practices.

Uninspired by top-down change, Andrew moved to Boston where he co-founded a wiki-based website devoted to ethical consumerism by providing product life-cycle information to everyday consumers. Having learned a lot from this first entrepreneurial experience, Andrew moved to the Bay Area in 2007 following his passion for food and the environment and found meaningful non-profit work with the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture(MESA). Working with MESA for 3 years, Andrew expanded the farmer training program’s outreach by developing a new website, better tech systems, and by visiting with active and potential organic host farms across the country. In early 2010, seeking more hands-on work with local communities, Andrew left MESA to help start the non-profitPlanting Justice. Andrew has worked with Planting Justice as a Permaculture Designer, Director of the Landscaping Program, and in May of 2015 Andrew began his current position as the Farm Manager of the organization’s 5-acre food forest in El Sobrante. Since 2010, Andrew has been a member-owner ofWater Wise Supply– an online-retail shop that specializes in providing information and supplying hardware to DIY and professional installers of greywater and rainwater systems. Also Since 2010, Andrew has been a core member ofWild & Radish, a collective committed to environmental stewardship, ecological building and urban agriculture that is currently building a eco-village on thirteen acres in El Sobrante.