2014-2015
Farm School MIA
After the Community FoodWorks program exhausted its funding and lost its venue at Verde Gardens, Farm School MIA was born.
We adopted an entrepreneurial approach, returned to Guara Ki Eco Farm, and fine-tuned the curriculum more precisely to grow the next crop of regenerative urban farmers. Farmers that would learn to grow food at every scale (backyard to commercial).
The curriculum is comprised of three consecutive modules each with 84 hours of classroom instruction and hands-on learning.
Unvun Homestead / B&B
Unvun (food forest in Hindi) is the name for a homestead and bed & breakfast project in Homestead, Fl. The native, bamboo-lined rock wall on the main road simultaneously hides and hints at the extraordinary, lush diversity of food systems inside this five acre paradise. Upon entering, guests are greeted by a complex of bungalows, paths and perennial patches organized around a natural pool and central covered space bordered by an aquaculture garden to the east and the working farm radiating to the west. The farms growing systems, oriented for optimal southern exposure and diversity of yield, organically cradle the private residence in its center and shield the remainder of the working farm.
N. American Permaculture Convergence
Yanez co-designed and co-organized the first North American Permaculture Convergence held in September of 2014 in southern Minnesota.
The convergence brought together over 500 attendees of diverse backgrounds throughout NA to network, learn, grow, and further develop and amplify the Permaculture movement.
The first-time event ran “in-the-black,” building capacity for the second NAPC.
FoodScape Design, LLC.
Foodscape Designs, LLC. was an offshoot Of Earth Learning’s regenerative design initiatives. Earth Learning, now relaunched as Inhabit Earth, has used regenerative design methods in all it’s interventions (projects, events, workshops, campaigns, etc.) and internally as an organization since it’s inception.
During The Farm @ Verde Garden became Earth Learning’s most complex project, it became clear there was a demand for a for-profit social venture to propagate more productive placemaking projects in the world.
At the end of 2014, FoodScape Design was born and dedicated to designing and building productive landscapes of medium to large scale.
Booker T. Washington High
Booker T. Washington High School is located in Overtown, a challenged neighborhood in Miami, Fl. Booker T. was opened in the 1920’s as an all black high school.
The food forest design included various patches representative of different regions of the world: Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, Tropical Americas, and South Florida. The space included several outdoor classrooms.
The project was a collaboration with Florida International University’s Education Effect and The Center for Social Change.
Florida Local Food Summit
The first Florida (state-wide) Local Food Summit took place in summer of 2015 in Orlando, FL.
Yanez participated in the co-design of this event, which benefited from several years of experience hosting the The Greater Everglades Community Food Summits and attracted a statewide audience interested in connecting and cross-pollinating over local food systems.