Farm Team

Gracie Cavnar believes that you can do anything you put your mind to, and she’s spent a lifetime proving it.

In 1998, following careers in architecture, hospitality and public relations, Gracie retired to write and travel. But, after she learned about the childhood obesity epidemic and its astounding effect on American lives and wallets, she spent years researching best practices around the world and then launched Recipe for Success Foundation in 2005 to change the way children understand, appreciate and eat their food. Her vision of Hope Farms has always been a critical part of the solution – making it easier for all Houstonians to feed their children healthy food.  After nearly a decade of fundraising and planning she led the Hope Farms groundbreaking on Earth Day 2016. 

“There is nothing more hopeful than planting a seed,” she likes to say.  You can find Gracie at the farm nearly every day with her hands in the dirt, leading a farm walk, teaching a cooking or gardening class, or leading the Vet trainees through their business planning classes—planting seeds everywhere she goes.

When she not working, she’s-latin in the gardening kitchen with her 7 grandkids undoing her best to convince them that they love beets as much as she does.

“I want this farm to still be growing delicious, healthy food for the neighborhood 100 years from now long after you and I are gone.”

Those were Noah’s first words to us when he showed up to volunteer on the farm in 2016 before we broke ground. Soon he was a part time farmer and in 2021 stepped in to the lead.  The PVAM alum that he is, Noah’s favorite food is okra.