Chris Waters

Chris is a second-generation Mexican American who believes that when we work to heal the land, we work to heal ourselves. This belief fueled his own interest in becoming a farmer, which gave him a firsthand education in the financial and systemic barriers emerging farmers face in the U.S. That experience motivated him to focus not just on his own interest in regenerative farming but on expanding who has access to these healing land-based lifeways.

After moving to his partner’s home state of Minnesota in 2021, he quickly jumped into local food-justice efforts, including two years facilitating a Spanish-language community garden program on the East Side of St. Paul. He’s also served on the Homegrown Minneapolis Food Council, Renewing the Countryside’s Urban Ag Steering Committee, and as co-manager of Eat Street Community Garden, which offers individual and communal growing plots, a small food forest, and mutual aid efforts.

Prior to his arrival in Minnesota, Chris studied structural engineering in San Diego and spent 10 years in the construction industry, with a bent toward ecological building practices. He eventually realized it’s not just the design and makeup of our buildings that need to shift, but our entire relationship to the ecosystems that support us. This led him to pivot from home builder to community builder and regenerative agriculturist.

Chris joined Sharing Our Roots as interim executive director in September 2024 and is excited to help foster a stable future for our growers on the Sharing Our Roots farm.