Ally Schonfeld

Ally is an urban farmer and educator, currently residing in Philadelphia but has been involved in growing food and culturally relevant crops in Baltimore, Delaware, and Pennsylvania since 2010. When she started working alongside the Karen farmers from Burma at Novick Urban Farm in 2018 and met Owen through his work with them and Truelove Seeds, she was inspired to dig into her history. As a first generation American whose dad came from Hungary in the 70's, she decided to find some seed for Paprika, which weaves its way through all the historical notes of her family history that has been lost through generations of folks who were persecuted during the atrocities of the Holocaust. At this point this is the plant she has decided to steward, but is actively looking for other varieties that are of interest to her family/culture. It was incredibly special to be able to work alongside the Karen farmers at Novick Urban Farm and to learn about seeds and plants that were important to their culture and rituals, and Ally hopes to continue this work with the friends she made within that community.