My name is Nando Jaramillo.

I run a project called Moon and Stars.

We grow heirloom corn to make arepas a And our mission is to connect with# community through the growing of# heirloom corn and the arepa-making process.

The idea is to create this# whole transparency around like how do we grow our food?

How do we pay# our people that do we deliver in a sustainable way and figure# out what the real price of sustainable food is?

That's kind of like our core# mission in this project.

I've been on this path for about# like 15 years.

We had a little#farm in Miami, but it was all surrounded# by all this conventional agricu And one summer, like seven years ago, we# came to spend the summer here in Vermont and,## and I saw all this corn being grown for silage.

And so I asked, #Why are they# growing all this corn here?# Because I saw this being a very# environmentally conscious state.

And I saw the accessibility of good food and,# and in my mind, I've always been thinking, #How## can we create a food system that really aligns# what we envision as a regenerative culture?# So, when I first arrived here at the farm that I# was growing corn in HighFields in Randolph, they## had a stand at the market and I started creating# all these relationships with different farmers.

I've been fortunate enough to be able to connect# with like the best farmers here in Vermont.

And they've been really open# to growing this corn for me.

I'm growing corn at three different local farms.

Last year, we grew 200 plants of the# zapalote chico, which is one of first 19 strains that were domesticated in# the Oaxaca area, where corn originated from.

Sometimes people say, #This doesn't# taste like an arepa,# because in their mind,## they have this concept of an arepa being# like this white GMO corn thing that## they sell in Miami and places that# are like Venezuelan or Colombian.

And they sell this white# thing that they call arepa.

In their minds, they haven't experienced that.

So I feel like this project has been# able to like, go be beyond that, and create this concept of like, #Oh this is not# the only thing arepas are made out of.### And like, #Oh this could taste even better# than this other thing,# you know?# For me, good food is--It doesn't# even have to have an organic label.

It's about creating the local economy# and how do we connect with the people## that are growing the food, and you# can do that, you know?

I know.

It's so loud.

My goal in this whole process is to figure out how whole transparency and all these ethics into# how we process our food, how do we grow it?

How do we distribute?

And if you wanna have a sustai good wages to be able for them to# have some kind of quality of life.

And also use it to connect with community.

And build## vibrant communities and bring back# all these different strains of corn## that were part of this whole culture# and bring them back to our landscape.