Hello everyone,

You may already know me as I’ve been working at CFET for the past 4 years, first as the Farmer and more recently as the Interim Executive Director.  During that time I have been fortunate to meet many of you around the neighborhood, at our summer farm stand, in the garden, at events around the city, or somewhere in between.  I want to tell you that I appreciate meeting each one of you and the time that you have taken to welcome me so generously.  I have enjoyed getting to know all of you and it is a privilege to be connected to the Waterfront South community.  

This has been a livelihood that has challenged me to learn and grow as a human being so that I might do justice to my responsibilities as an educator, mentor, and environmental steward.  Running a youth program, growing vegetables, and hosting college groups can be fun and rewarding, but we are also grappling with important issues around here… issues like equal access to fresh healthy food, equal access to natural spaces, and the right to clean and fresh air and water.  Getting to the bottom of things in these sorts of discussions means broaching topics like race and racism, class, and political power and facilitating discussions around these issues takes a balance of fearlessness and humility – skills I am still developing.  Other newly acquired skills in the past 4 years include beekeeping, pruning fruit trees, making hot sauce, attending zoom meetings, and using google calendar.

Looking forward to 2021 CFET is committed to continue making environmental justice the center of our work.  Some of the major goals include a planned update to our website that will serve as an information center for environmental concerns in the city.  We will continue to monitor the ongoing development plans for the microgrid project, which to date still includes the Covanta incinerator as its main power source.  This growing season, we will continue to hold our weekly farm stand with the newly added ability to accept SNAP payments and our youth farming program for camden youth 13-19 will be restarting in a pandemic adapted format.  Lastly, (once it is finally safe to do so) we are looking forward to welcoming back groups of young people to our retreat center where we challenge developing minds to face the historical injustices and environmental reality of our shared future with courage and grace.

It has been a privilege to serve in the roles I have filled so far.  I want to thank our board for the opportunity to continue helping to serve our mission and I hope to steward our organization during this time so that we might continue our important work.

Jon Compton

Interim Executive Director

CFET