Justine Campbell - Board President

Justine Campbell has an Italian mother who loves to cook and grow her own vegetables in her backyard garden that is over 20 years old. She never paid attention to the garden that her mother loved so much until she completed junior college and didn't know where to go. Walking through the garden, Justine asked her close friends, "what should I do with my life?" They sat together and went through the things Justine loves and finds interest in. Their collective minds kept coming back to food and healthy community through nutrient dense foods. This sparked the idea that maybe she would like to learn how nutrient dense food is made and how it goes from garden to plate. This is when a light bulb appeared in the minds of a wonderful group of friends coming together to help out a friend in need. Why don't you go to school to be a Horticulturist? Yes, and that is what Justine did!

She attended Missouri State University for Sustainable Agriculture and Plant science. Once she gained all the knowledge she could at MSU she moved to California to accept a job on a 3 acre permaculture farm where she was able to put her knowledge to work. Through this job experience is where her love for the soil grew. She was able to watch a desert landscape turn into life giving soil that produced the most beautiful food in harmony with the life around it. No synthetic plant foods or pesticides needed, just people watching the plants and learning how healthy soil grows healthy food. This sparked her journey back to the Midwest to share the knowledge she had gained with her friends, family, and fellow plant lovers.

With the passion for creating life giving soil, she started the first food waste diversion nonprofit in Springfield, Missouri called Springfield Compost Collective. Justine is now dedicating her life to learning as much as she can about the soil and the soil food web along with compost making, food waste diversion, and regenerative agriculture practices. Justine works for Springfield Community Gardens where she is the Compost and Garden leader Educator. She is also a Master Gardener of Greene County and a Regenerative Soil Advocate for Kiss the Ground.

In a roundabout way Justine's mother grew a soil loving human by having a life giving garden in her backyard. "By observing the plants and studying the soil, the Earth helped to guide me to where I am today. I was meant to me an advocate for Mother Earth" Justine is forever grateful for her mother's passion for good food and fresh picked tomatoes. She has completed Dr. Elaine Ingham's Life in the Soils courses with an emphasis on compost and compost tea.