A childhood spent in the agricultural industry prepared Amy Franceschini for a unique future. Integrating her passion for art, politics and gardening, Amy founded FutureFarmers in 1995. Meant to progress the conversation of space usage and to “cultivate consciousness,” FutureFarmers has worked with such clients as Stanford University, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and more.
Wanting to add another dimension to her “growing” career (pun intended), Amy helped found SF Victory Gardens in 2006. Drawing on the rich history of victory gardens from the World War II era, SF Victory Gardens is designed to help San Francisco’s residents transform their “backyard, front yard, window boxes, rooftops and unused land into organic food production areas.”
What inspired you to start your business?
FutureFarmers began unconsciously. It was really a hiding place from other activities, but soon it was found and people began asking us to do projects of all kinds. I don't ever think of us as a "business"; that seems to take all the fun and freedom away. I can't really even think of a certain beginning point of FutureFarmers. I still feel like it hasn't even begun. The thing that inspires me to continue working as FutureFarmers is the constant learning and opportunity to collaborate with new practitioners depending on the job at hand.
What's the best part about your job?
Every job is a new challenge. FutureFarmers is a very open system. We try not to be specialists. This allows us the flexibility to be inventors, woodworkers, engineers, gardeners, weavers, writers or programmers. I learn something each time. If a job is not challenging, we try as hard as we can to convince clients to take risks with or push a project beyond their initial trajectory.
What is your favorite local green restaurant?
My kitchen at home. We do not eat out often; we much prefer to prepare a meal at home for ourselves or for a large group of friends.
Where do you shop for organic groceries?
Rainbow Grocery
What are some of the things you do to help make the world a little bit greener?
I vote for representatives that I think will affect the current profit-driven system. The current form of society needs a major overhaul!
What's your favorite thing about living in the San Francisco Bay area?
Proximity to nature.
Least favorite?
The new skyscraper on the skyline.
Where do you like to take out-of-town visitors?
My favorite thing to do is to suit up friends with a bike and helmet and let them explore.
What's your favorite vacation destination? Do you prefer to kick back or explore?
Right now, my home and small garden are my favorite places to be.
What's your favorite weekend outdoor activity?
Biking and working in [my] garden.
Describe your path to green. How and when did you became eco-conscious?
My relationship to agriculture stems from my parents, who opposed farming practices. My father was an industrial farmer in the San Joaquin Valley and owned a pesticide company. My mother was an organic farmer and activist near San Luis Obispo. Although their ideologies were seriously opposed, my parents’ involvement in growing food was politicized in their own way - my father heavily involved in water politics and labor issues and my mother fighting local strawberry farmers to stop using Malathion (an insecticide often used against mosquitoes).
Through canvassing and attending public hearings, I was introduced to food politics in action. At an early age, I was introduced to progressive politics, activism and luckily successful campaigns. My interest in urban agriculture evolved through a desire for aspects of the rural, but not being ready to be away from the urban environment.
