Five Questions with Shy Palmer: Raleigh City Farm’s New Community Engagement Consultant

We're thrilled to welcome Shy Palmer to our team as our first Community Engagement Consultant. She's a Raleigh native and a dedicated advocate for unity and empowerment with a passion for teaching and agricultural training. Shy has also become a formidable urban farmer over the past five years, fostering self-sufficiency and resilience in her community. She's excited to dig into her new position and connect with new Farm Friends! Please enjoy Shy’s responses to our five questions:

1) What does being a "Raleigh Native" mean to you? 

To me, being a "Raleigh Native" means being born and bred locally, having lots of community ties, doing community-building work, and seeing the true value in moving my community forward. It places an additional importance on equity with consistent impetus towards ensuring that there's an uplifting of original community members to avoid erasure.  

2) What inspired you to become a farmer?

I had a small business specializing in meal prep and meal planning. When I realized how much I was spending on produce, I began to explore the idea of growing my own. I joined a community garden to learn how, and fell in love to the point where my business focus pivoted to teaching people how to grow fresh food. I kept the name Shy's Fresh Eats, but I shifted my focus from meal prep to edible garden coaching. I also founded a nonprofit called Reclamation FARMacy whose mission is to teach these skills to POC (people of color). 

3) What compelled you to partner with Raleigh City Farm? 

Reclamation FARMacy advances a mission to teach agricultural skills to POC, but I also see the importance of ensuring equity in spaces that aren't exclusively for POC. Raleigh City Farm has a beautiful mission, and I see so much opportunity to expound on that mission to ensure equity in these local foodspaces. I'm here as a consultant with a specialty in equity from a food lens, and it's my goal to help Raleigh City Farm diversify the people they serve and ensure equity within their community. 

4) What is your favorite vegetable? 

I absolutely love collards! They're cold hardy and fairly easy to grow, and I can eat them every day. A close second is carrots. I love how diverse they are. You've got a bunch of varieties, even rainbow carrots. I love them roasted – they add so much pop to a plate.

5) What will your legacy be? 

My legacy will be service, advocacy, equity, and activism. It's what I believe in; what I hope to embody. It's what I instill in my children. It's the core of who I am.