2 Chefs and a Greenhouse
We envision a community where people can come together to share food, learn the importance of sustainability, and provide sustenance to local businesses and those in need through education and community outreach. Building a sustainable homegrown food supply that is accessible to all, all year long.
MEET THE TEAM
Laird and Lora Livingston are committed to practicing sustainable farming techniques by embracing traditional farming methods that have withstood generations of farmers. 2Chefs and a Greenhouse’s mission is to shape and redefine sustainable agriculture practices that address global climate change.
Laird has many years’ experience in food and beverage operations as a food and beverage director, executive chef, caterer, and college educator. Laird incorporates regionally grown farm produce and meat integrated in custom designed menus. Recently, Laird prepared menus and catered events preparing island grown ingredients from Kauai served to a Hitachi corporation (a high-profile client) on the Island of Kauai. Presently Laird is a professor teaching in the Business and Technology College of Hospitality at Palm Beach State College. Teaching hospitality business operation courses including marketing and sales, and professional cooking labs.
Previously As the Associate Dean of Agriculture at Columbia Basin College, Pasco Washington, Laird oversaw students and faculty in the Agriculture Associate and Bachelor programs that incorporated crop production, crop growth and development, yield, and quality. Importance is placed on applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology advances in agronomy to active crop-production situations, including basic soils, climate, crop physiology, and breeding.
In the lab, students are directly involved in conducting agricultural research operating a 25-acre teaching farm and a 35-foot wide- 110-foot-long commercial greenhouse. Partnering with Lamb Wesson Corporation, Syngenta, and Rainier, seed companies completing research on seed and plant growth. Incorporating techniques studying different herbicides, in contrast to season and harvesting cycles. Laird wrote designed and incorporated courses in precision agriculture technologies, presenting both the applications and the different technologies (e.g. geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), remote sensing systems, variable rate application, drones etc.) that make precision farming possible.
Laird and Lora Livingston
We are focused on perpetually innovating and developing new ways to make small farms an integral part of food production and sustainable food systems to encourage the growing and utilization of locally grown crops. We want to use our love of food to inspire and educate the community to grow, prepare and consume fresh local produce in perpetuity.
Lora Livingston - Owner-GENERAL MANAGER
Networking can be a very powerful tool when building crucial business associates. It is so much more than exchanging business cards or attending functions. It is about establishing genuine relationships within the community, and local businesses, working with the government. It is crucial to tend and nurture these relationships and build trust and mutual respect. Networking is only beneficial if the exchange is respectful and sincere. As a past minority women on a Pacific Island I have learned just how important it is to know and respect the culture around me. It is through that respect that genuine relationships are able to form.
Laird Livingston-Chef Owner Operator
It is an honorable thing to be a teacher and as teachers, it is our responsibility to empower students with the skills compulsory to critical thinking and innovative leadership within a dynamic learning environment that is infinitely evolving and growing. I also see my role as a teacher to guide students in making the connections needed to discover the resources, ideas and people required for an extraordinary collegiate experience. My students provide evidence through feedback, testimonials and application of proficiencies learned in my classroom that have made a huge impact in their lives and businesses.
