Sierra Torres
Sierra Torres is a "bayou girl" raised in the Crescent City. If growing up in the swamps of the Mississippi Delta can teach you anything, it's how to love your family, the food that brings you together, and the farmers, fishers, and animals who made it all possible. After completing four years of Culinary Arts training at NOCCA and working in fine dining restaurants around the city, Sierra moved to Massachusetts to receive a B.S. in Sustainable Food and Farming. That degree was important for her, not only in cooking the rich and flavorful food of her culture, but also in understanding the implications of where that food comes from and how it is produced. In Massachusetts, Sierra has worked with farmers, chefs, and educators across the state, specifically within public schools working to integrate garden and culinary arts education into everyday classrooms. Sierra has worked on and managed different farms across the world, including cheese farms in Italy, large organic vegetables farms in the Northeast, and a flower farm in Louisiana. During COVID, Sierra, along with other mutual aid groups and community members, worked with local growers to support over 150 families who could not qualify for Federal Assistance in New Orleans with weekly deliveries of fresh, local groceries and dry goods. In her role as Market Manager at Crescent City Farmers Market, Sierra is excited to combine her love for agriculture and cooking to work with our local farmers and community members to create a robust local food system and continue to empower and support our local producers. In Sierra’s free time she enjoys fishing and crabbing down South in the lower Parishes, cooking for family and friends, and working to support local community members and mutual aid groups.
Becks Hillard
Becks is from the one and only Baton Rouge, and went to high school in New Orleans. If you talk to Becks for any length of time, they’ll probably mention their grandmother Mimi. Becks learned to love all things food related cooking next to her, picking out the bay leaf for the gumbo, hand rolling chicken dumplings, and peeling shrimp for etouffee. They moved to the Bay Area to attend SFSU, and studied Human Geography with an emphasis in environmental racism. Studying climate change through food insecurity led Becks to co-manage a 27-acre organic fruit farm, Good Courage Farm, in rural Minnesota. Along with planting, harvesting, and maintaining over 100 varieties of fruit, the seed was planted for the idea to one day start a farm in their home state. Though the last few years as a preschool teacher has been a slight change of scenery, serving as an educator geared toward social justice is their other life passion. One day, they hope to host classes on the farm for elementary school children in Southeast Louisiana as an alternative to public school field trips.
