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Class of 鈥�99
Young Alumni Achievement 2010

In merely 11 years since graduating from NSAC, Patricia Bishop, an eighth鈥恎eneration Annapolis Valley farmer, has become an incredibly respected and well-known agricultural entrepreneur in our province.聽

Patricia was raised on a farm in Greenwich, NS. After graduating from NSAC in 1999 with a B.Sc. in Agricultural Environmental Studies, she continued her studies at Acadia University, earning a degree in education.

Following a hiatus from her roots, Patricia eventually turned back to where she started. In November, 2007, she and husband, Josh Oulton, purchased 23-acre TapRoot Farms.

Drawn to organic agriculture, Patricia and Josh quickly learned that natural produce would not sell itself. In 2009 they launched a newly adapted business model 鈥� Community Shared Agriculture (CSA). Customers register as 鈥渕embers鈥� to receive regular food baskets of organic produce.

Patricia and Josh鈥檚 immediate success was realized when they more than doubled their expected CSA membership.

They now deliver baskets of fresh TapRoot Farms organic produce to over 200 families, every week of the year, in communities from the Valley to the Halifax Regional Municipality. As many families are also added in during the summer months.

Patricia鈥檚 farm concept doesn鈥檛 stop at producing organic food. TapRoot Farms also offers a 鈥渇arm stay鈥�. Guests can experience Patricia and her family鈥檚 passion by staying at the on-site guest house while learning about agriculture first-hand.

In addition to her own farm, Patricia is also active with the family operation, Noggins Corner Farm.

Patricia鈥檚 work in recent years to聽promote locally鈥恎rown foods and preserve agricultural lands has built province鈥恮ide awareness of some of the most important issues聽affecting the聽future of farming: food security, land use, and the viability of local farms. 聽聽

Patricia and Josh have set a great example of how to capture new opportunities while maintaining the grassroots values of rural life. Along with their three children, they have successfully found a way to provide healthy, delicious food for their family and community while loving what they do.

Patricia is past president of the Kings County Federation of Agriculture and served on the Nova Scotia Agricultural Land Review Committee. Last fall, she was a guest speaker at the Nova Scotia Food Summit and she has just been invited, by the Minister of State for Agriculture, to the inaugural meeting of the National Future Farmers Network in Ottawa.

For their accomplishments and leadership in the agricultural industry, Patricia and Josh were named Atlantic Canada鈥檚 Outstanding Young Farmers for 2010 and received the 2010 Spirit Nova Scotia Local Foods Award.

Patricia Bishop is what NSAC would call a 鈥渞eal alumnus鈥�. Patricia is a most deserving recipient of NSAC鈥檚 Young Alumni Achievement Award for 2010.