Marc gardened as a child and was inspired by his friend’s family’s small farms. He regularly read Laura Ingalls Wilder books and dreamt about the food and farm scenes in those books. Someday, he would still like to have eggnog in the summertime, as Almonzo did. Those dreams were put on hold while Marc focused on school and sports at St. Xavier HS of Cincinnati and then at Harvard as an undergraduate and a rower. After college, in 2007, Marc thought he would farm for 2 weeks while he looked for other work, and to his own surprise, farming has been his profession since. He was inspired by the need to slow erosion and to keep our water clean. The connections of agriculture to community and to the environment surprised and fascinated him, to an extent that was probably too much. He was drawn to the outdoor lifestyle, the need to invent and innovate, and to the need and challenge that he perceived to produce nutritious food for the customer that enhanced the environment, all the while providing a stable living for the farmer. 

For nearly 8 years, he started and ran a CSA with his wife Claire in Cincinnati. They produced turkeys, eggs, chickens, beef, pork, 5 acres of vegetables and fruits, flowers, and herbs.  When that leased land was developed for housing, they faced the tough choice on whether to start over from scratch. They chose to move to California instead, where Marc got a job managing a ranch that produced grain, beef, lamb, turkeys, pork, and more. Marc and Claire chose to move closer to home and they were drawn to the community, vision and place of Flatwater Farms and River St. Joe Brewery, after an introduction from a shared friend. Marc is excited for the future ahead at Flatwater Farms and for the chance to meet and grow for the people here.