Nathan Heath is co-owner with his wife Shayda and mother, Cindy, of Phoenix Farms in Bastrop, TX. Together with their two young children they have farmed the 11 acres since 2010. Over the past four years Phoenix Farms has developed a reputation for providing unique and high quality produce to some of Austin's best chefs as well as customers at some of Austin's busiest farmers market. Nathan's farming life started when he was born on a farm in Southern Arizona. After his parents closed the family farm in Arizona they moved to New Mexico where he raised animals for sale at the state fair, grew vegetables for a farmers market and honed his young farming skills.In his early 20's he owned several businesses before landing in the panhandle of TX. There he was involved in large scale mono-crop agriculture as well as confinement feedlot operations. After seeing how disconnected agriculture production had become from his childhood Nathan and his family sought out a place to farm in TX.

Sam Hellman-Mass is the co-founder of both Barley Swine and Odd Duck, two of Austin’s critically-acclaimed and most popular restaurants. He currently works as a chef and food buyer at Odd Duck and is committed to supporting the local farming community by creating a menu based on what local farmers have available. Odd Duck has been named a Top 50 Best New Restaurant by Bon Appetit Magazine, a Best Restaurant in the South by Southern Living and Best New Restaurant by the Austin Chronicle and Austin Monthly,

In addition to his work at Odd Duck, Hellman-Mass is working to create an Edible Schoolyard partnership with local Zilker Elementary, with the goal to teach kids where their food comes from via an edible curriculum. Hellman-Mass has also spoken on a number of panels and been recognized for his passion to make local food from great farmers a real part of the way Austin and Texans eats. He previously worked at the Little Nell in Aspen, CO.