Alisha Utter

I earned a B.A. in Environmental Policy and Marine Science from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). As an undergraduate, I founded P.E.A.C.E. (People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty through Education), which catalyzed the establishment of a vegan dining hall on campus. At UCSD, I also served as the Director of Food Policy, acting as a liaison between students and administration. I am now in my third-year as a PhD student in Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont (UVM). At UVM, I work as a research assistant on a project examining the adoption of produce safety practices on small and medium-scale farms throughout New England. I have experience with interview-based qualitative research and enjoy working with farmers.

I have been vegan for nearly a decade and when I began working in agriculture, I faced a conundrum: the status quo of applying animal byproducts to grow plant crops. I looked to the veganic farming movement to learn alternative management strategies and recognized that veganics offer many potential solutions to larger systemic food/agriculture issues. Today, I co-own and operate a small diversified farm shaped by plant-based principles.

Within this veganic research project, I offer insight as both a beginning farmer and a scholar trained in agroecology, which will aid in the development of a veganic farming manual to facilitate the sharing of farmer-identified best management practices.

Relevant publications and presentations:

UVM Introduction to Ethics and Food Systems Course, Burlington, VT, December 2016. Guest Lecture: “Organic Tomatoes - and Other Vegan Predicaments: An Intro to Veganics."

November 2017