Let’s Honor South Florida Women Today and Every Day
We begin our celebration of Women's History Month in the city of Miami, founded in 1896 by Julia Tuttle, the only woman to found a major U.S. city. Women have historically played key roles in South Florida's growth, particularly in our food and horticultural communities. In 1944 Mary Heinlein became the first superintendent of Redland Fruit & Spice Park. Author and botanist Julia Morton, whose Fruits of Warm Climates remains an essential resource, was director of the Morton Collectanea at the University of Miami and was an expert on toxic, edible and otherwise useful plants. Journalist, author and environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas' earned the title Grande Dame of the Everglades for her efforts to preserve the River of Grass.
Today, we present faces of today's women active in South Florida's food, farming and cultural community – and they represent only the tip of the iceberg. We honor these and all of the women who work hard to bring us food, to teach us, to nurture our community so richly in so many ways, every day of the year. Click on each image for a larger version.
Photo 1: Margie Pikarsky, of Bee Heaven Farm, started one of the first CSAs and trained many of young farmers in South Florida
Photo 2: Thi Squire heads up Baptist Health's Grow2Heal garden program
Photo 3: Martina Gonzalez operates Aloha Redland Farm with Alicia del Aguila
Photo 4: One of Miami-Dade's first farmers, Gabriele Marewski today tours the world by bike and shares her stories on gabrieleonthego.com
Photo 1: Olivia is a second-generation farmer at Fullei Fresh, a leading sprouts farm
Photo 2: Laura Sutton of Blue Horizon Farm grows fruit, veggies, flowers and herbs in the Redland
Photo 3: Adena Ellenby and her family operate LNB Groves, a longtime tropical fruit farm in the Redland
Photo 4: Ms. Shirley volunteers every Saturday at the Urban Oasis Project booth at Legion Park
Photo 1: Tien Hung shows followers how to grow tropical produce in her Kendall front and backyard on her website and social media, Delectableday.com
Photo 2: Tiffany Noe and Muriel Olivares started Little River Cooperative, today a farming project in the Redland selling plant starts and building gardens
Photo 3: Karla Dascal, pictured on the right at Paradise Farms, grows organic produce at Paradise Farms in the Redland
Photo 4: Longtime PR guru Lisa Palley volunteers weekly at Urban Oasis Project at Legion Park every Saturday
Photo 1: Meg Daly in behind The Underline, a 10-mile linear park, urban trail and public art destination, in the words in Miami-Dade County
Photo 2: Ellen Bowen started the South Florida branch of the national nonprofit Food Rescue US in response to seeing firsthand food waste
Photo 3: Longtime community advocate Valencia "Vee" Gunder serves South Florida through the nonproft The Smile Trust
Photo 4: Cristina Favretto, who heads Special Collections at the University of Miami libraries, co-founded the inaugural Tropic Bound artists Book Fair
Photo 1: Vanessa Navarro Maza is folklife curator at HistoryMiami, overseeing events like CultureFest 305
Photo 2: Christine Rupp is executive director of Dade Heritage Trust working to preserve Greater Miami’s architectural, environmental and cultural heritage
Photo 3: Lucia Meneses leads Dade Heritage Trust's Baking in Historic Places program
Photo 4: Rebecca Peterson is Vizcaya's Community Programs Manager
Photo 1: Cynthia Seymour is the executive director of the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District
Photo 2: Eleanor Hoh of the longtime Wokstar cooking classes also plans food and cultural events
Photo 3: Author Ellen Kanner has been writing about the intersection of food, wellness and sustainability for more than 20 years
Photo 4: Vanessa Trujillo is director of Fruit and Spice Park; Pat Mackin is a food influencer, @patmackincoconutgrove; Heather Moehling of Robert Is Here is an alumna of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources
Photo 1: James Beard Award nominated chef Val Chang of Itamae and her upcoming restaurant, Matys, and Karla Hoyos, owner of upcoming Tacotomia and participant in World Central Kitchen
Photo 2: Paula Da Silva is director of Culinary and Beverage at The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale
Photo 3: Ambrely Ouimette of Sushi | Bar is one of the country’s only female omakase chefs. Photo: Liam Brown
Photo 4: James Beard Award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein of Cafe La Trova and La Cañita is opening Sra. Martinez in Coral Gables and two concepts at the new Julia & Henry food hall
Photo 1: Longtime pastry chef Cindy Kruse operates CindyLou’s Cookies in Little River
Photo 2: Suzy Batlle founded Azucar Ice Cream in Little Havana and has since opened in Dallas and Pinecrest
Photo 3: Courtney Leon created cookies that are organic, gluten-free, vegan, low-glycemic
Photo 4: Pamela Wasabi’s bakery specializes in making delicious natural vegan, and gluten-free cakes, cookies, desserts, and treats
Photo 1: Corinne Mariposa of Seed Share Miami sets up seed-sharing booths at markets and events and talks about propagation
Photo 2: Michelle Gaber and Alison Burgos launched the annual SEED Food and Wine festival
Photo 3: JennyLee Molina started 305 Day and does PR for SEED and other events
Photo 4: Our brand ambassador Pat Mackin, who also reports on restaurants and events in Coconut Grove
Photo 1: Melissa Guzman created The Caribe Vegan, a food truck selling her plant-based foods
Photo 2: Cristina Ivory’s Angry Booch makes kombucha and ferments – kraut, pikliz, kimchi, sriracha, curtido, fermented mango chutney – for farmers markets and her taproom
Photo 3: Alexandra Cava Palomino operates super-local Mima Market in Miami Shores with her husband Raul Parra Orizondo
Photo 4: Lynn Bell, left, is behind the Square Grouper restaurants in Islamorada and Cudjoe Key and the new Morning Joint coffee shop
