Matthew Raiford Raiford for the past decade has been working on his own family farm as the sixth generation to be farming land that has been in his family since 1874 and has been working on projects of soil regeneration and bioremediation using red wiggler worms, black soldier flies and creating pastureland. Matthew has worked to make it a mission to work alongside farmers and chefs to bridge the gap between the seed and the table. Alongside his wife, Tia, they have started Strong Roots 9. After a 10-year military career, then graduation from the CIA, Matthew has worked on opening chef teams for large hotels, the Executive Chef at the House of Representatives, and Program Coordinator for the Culinary Arts Program at the College of Coastal Georgia. Matthew also attended the UC Santa Cruz the (CASFS) Center for AgroEcology and Sustainable Food System where theory meets the soil. CheFarmer Matthew uses the learnings from the CASFS program to help further the idea of what it takes to create a regenerative-sustainable food system. It takes pollinators like bees and bats, ensuring the soil is being treated as a living organism and ensuring that no matter where the land is located that is constantly being feed. Matthew currently sits as Board Chair for Georgia Organics, and had the opportunity also put to work the seed to table process not just in Georgia but also in Whidbey Island in Washington State, and in Berkely California with Alice Waters and the Edible Schoolyard Project. A 2018 James Beard Foundation semi-finalist in the Best Chef in the Southeast category, Matthew’s roots run deep along the Gullah-Geechee corridor that spans the South Carolina Lowcountry to northern Florida. Farming diversified crops of sugarcane, sweet potatoes, hibiscus, and animal husbandry including laying hens, goats, and KuneKune pigs, His passion and focus on terroir and understanding flavors lead Matthew to work with the University of Georgia Food Science Program Flavor Profiles for Foodpeneuers.
