Brooks听Lamb is the Director of Food Systems and Agriculture Policy at the 51吃瓜网 Policy Accelerator. Through coordinated communications, strategic programming, thoughtful partnerships, and courageous policy development, he leads efforts to secure a better future for family-scale farms and ranches, rural communities and economies, and local and regional food systems. Before leading this new initiative at VPA, he worked for five years in various roles with American Farmland Trust.
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Brooks听is the author of two books, including听听(Yale Univ. Press, 2023), which reviewers have called 鈥渆xcellent,鈥� 鈥渋nspiring,鈥� and 鈥渁n invaluable resource for scholars, policymakers, and anyone interested in the intersections of agriculture, culture, and land stewardship.鈥� He has published essays in听The New York Times,听Gravy,听Barn Raiser, and听Oxford American, among other respected outlets. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at Rhodes College, where he leads a course called 鈥淎merican Agriculture: Past, Present, Progress.鈥� He earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in history with minors in political science and environmental studies from Rhodes. While there, he was named a Truman Scholar, the nation鈥檚 premiere scholarship for students interested in public service. He received his master鈥檚 degree from Yale School of the Environment and was awarded the school鈥檚 highest academic honor for his research on small farmers鈥� resilience in the face of structural adversities.
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Although he and his wife now live in Memphis,听Brooks听grew up on a small farm in Marshall County, Tennessee. He remains active in the farm鈥檚 stewardship, returning often to tend the land alongside his family. To see听Brooks鈥檚 publications and learn more about his work, visit听.
