Who we are

Sunrise over a lush green farm with three ducks walking across the grass, trees, distant mountains, and a cloudy sky.

Image credit: Wild East Farm ~ Marion, NC

As Core Stewards of the Foodshed Trust, we bring a unique depth and breadth of experience and an unwavering commitment to nurturing the relationships that are transforming our local food system into a living regional foodshed.

We are so thankful for our nearly five decades in corporate, entrepreneurial and small-business leadership ~ and the profound journeys through our own personal initiations ~ that have culminated in our work together. These quests have refined our skills in building unified teams and collaborative initiatives across sectors, and our capacity for gathering and consciously stewarding significant financial resources for the benefit of all life in our region.

Guided by our passion for the sacred nature of food and its power to fundamentally heal people, communities and Earth, we continually challenge ourselves to infuse ever higher levels of heart, integrity and authenticity into all we do.

Meet the Team

  • Andrea DuVall

    Andrea DuVall

    CO-FOUNDER & CORE STEWARD

    Andrea DuVall is the visionary CEO & Co-Founder of Mother Earth Food, a food hub she launched in 2012 to transform how communities connect with their local food sources. For the past 13 years, Andrea has built more than a business – she's nurtured relationships where farmers succeed and communities strengthen. Her innovative leadership has channeled over $9 million directly into the hands of more than 250 local and regional family farms, creating a ripple effect of economic vitality that strengthens the entire region.

    At the heart of her work lies an unwavering commitment to her farm partners – developing outlets that prioritize fair market pricing and farmer sustainability. Through trusted partnerships with Bountiful Cities, FEAST, Manna Food Bank, Impact Health, Asheville Buncombe Crisis Christian Ministry, Organic Growers School, Equal Plates Project, Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project, and the American Red Cross, she has woven Mother Earth Food into the fabric of the community, providing equitable access to fresh local food for households across the region.

    Andrea's work demonstrates that when we reimagine local food systems with intention and heart, we create pathways to heal both our communities and our planet.

  • Holly McCann

    Holly McCann

    CO-FOUNDER & CORE STEWARD

    Holly McCann is the founder of Grail Leadership, where she has spent the past 10 years helping leaders and organizations transform from extractive management practices to regenerative stewardship ~ moving into deeper relationship and sacred reciprocity with all life as we come to see ourselves and our initiatives as interconnected living systems.

    After achieving heights of success in three careers – as a lawyer & corporate executive, as the owner of award-winning retail boutiques, and as a business coach & consultant – Holly was burned out and profoundly unfulfilled. So she set out on a seven-year quest in search of ways to lead differently. Living nomadically from 2016 through 2022, this pursuit took her to twelve countries, four continents and two hemispheres as she immersed herself in a variety of initiatives ~ contributing insights and expertise in regenerative practices, operational systems, and process optimization for founders and leaders of impact-driven organizations.

    A mountain girl at heart, she is honored to call the sacred Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville home ~ feeding her passions for hiking, local food & farming, and connecting with people who care deeply about humanity and the Earth.

Advisory Board

  • Christopher Gergen

    Christopher Gergen

    CEO, REGENERATIVE ORGANIC ALLIANCE

    Christopher Gergen has over 25 years of experience building, scaling, and supporting systems-based solutions in communities globally. With a passion for the positive impact that food can have on our local economies, the health of families, and our warming climate, Christopher is deeply committed to helping scale the regenerative organic movement.

    Prior to joining ROA, Christopher was Chief Growth Officer at 4P Foods where he helped the public-benefit corporation build a scalable, equitable regional food system in the mid-Atlantic – including launching a pioneering locally sourced Food-is-Medicine initiative. He is the founder of Forward Impact that has helped direct over $30M in public/private capital to place-based systems change efforts and the co-founder and past CEO of Forward Cities – a national nonprofit that worked with cities and rural regions to reduce barriers to entrepreneurship and small business growth.

  • Ines Katharina Kinchen

    Ines Katharina Kinchen

    FOUNDER, EMERALD ARK BIODYNAMIC BEE SANCTUARY

    Ines Katharina Kinchen and her 15-year old son live in the forest of the mountains of Eastern Tennessee, about 35 minutes north of Asheville. Here, they are tending 40 acres of sacred land ~ the Emerald Ark ~ a biodynamic forest farm and bee sanctuary.

    Ines has a profound relationship with the bees. Through this deep connection, Ines will be serving the Blue Ridge Foodshed Trust as a voice for the bees, ensuring that the actions we are taking are in service to the health of our local farm food and all life in our regional foodshed.

    Ines is a former Waldorf teacher. She is currently working as the program coordinator for Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary in Floyd, Virginia, as well as teaching adult education programs within the Emerald Ark School of Resonance Medicine and Earth Healing, which she founded.