Kevin Haggerty grew up in a suburban neighborhood near Oakland, California. He didn’t know much about farming and he never planned to spend his career with his hands in the dirt.

But that’s what’s happened.

Haggerty, 25, has been named program coordinator for the Bainbridge Island-based Friends of the Farms.

“There were no farmers in my family,” he said. “I guess you could say I had a connection to the outdoors. My family had a cabin the Sierra Mountains and we’d go hang out there and hike.”

But it was his time at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, that led him to engage in sustainable living.

“I studied philosophy and I began to define my values and ethics,” he said. “I was trying to answer, ‘How do we live a good life?’”

That led Haggerty to a position with Heifer International near Little Rock, Arkansas, as a full-time market gardener and environmental educator, stressing the valuable role of healthy food systems in combating local and international hunger.

“I worked with young people teaching them to be considerate of our world,” he said. “I fell in love with farming and growing food.”

He then served with AmeriCorps to develop a sustainable school garden that focused on collectively feeding central Arkansas’ homeless student population.

“We grew produce for homeless students and we sold some of it at the local farmers market to support these students,” he said. “We helped more than 600 students in the school district.”

Following that he decided to take a break and traveled to Ireland where he volunteered on farms with a program called Willing Workers on Organic Farms. He spent time on two farms learning directly from farmers about every aspect of farming.

In his career, Haggerty has also founded a community garden, designed multiple food bank gleaning programs, collaborated on the creation of a SNAP-eligible mobile farmers market, and acted as the program coordinator for the city of Little Rock’s Love Your School Initiative, a city-wide school based nutrition education program.

When he read about the position with Friends of the Farms, he applied and was chosen from 15 applicants.

“He had such a diverse background,” said Wendy Tyner, executive director of the Friends of the Farms. “He has great communication skills and he’s worked with international programs, with children, and with municipalities such as the city of Little Rock. He’s so likable and he can work with youth and with farmers.”

Additionally, he has sought to blend and connect progressive food production systems, experiential educational programs, and collaborative hunger relief projects, she said.

Haggerty began his work about two weeks ago, after moving to Bainbridge Island. He will help with the organization’s fundraising events including the Farm to Table Dinner Aug. 13 and the annual Harvest Fair set for Sept. 27. He also will work to expand the organization’s Partnership with Farmers program, where those who want to farm are paired with public land that the Friends of the Farms maintains.

The mission of the organization is to preserve and enhance local farming. The group began in 2001 and continues to advocate for farming and keeping farm land from being developed.

To date, they have 60 acres of farm land and work with 28 local farmers. That number has increased from 14 just a year ago. Funding for the organization’s work comes from grants, events and donations from the community.

Friends of the Farms has received funding from the Bainbridge Community Foundation, the local Rotary, the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation and the Kitsap Community Foundation.

Haggerty said he was excited to get to work in the community.

“The success of this organization shows what’s possible,” he said. “If you want to, you can find food grown locally, at farmers markets, at local restaurants and other places. These are the values we are teaching to our youth and to the community in general. And, at the same time, we are reducing our footprint on the earth.”

Haggerty is glad to be back living in the Pacific Northwest, he said.

“It’s really nice,” he said. “I like to hike, bike, snowboard, ski and kayak. It’s easy to forget how great things are out here. I’m happy to be back.”

He plans to “keep his hands in the soil and his boots dirty, while working to enable and inspire the future generations of American foodies and farmers,” Tyner said.

To find out more about the organization and its events, go to www.friendsofthefarms.org.