Community Impact

October 16, 2023 | Combined Reports

UConn Extension’s Jiff Martin Recognized for Excellence in Extension and Diversity

Martin has worked for over 12 years on food and agriculture issues in Connecticut, including researching community food security in Connecticut’s 169 towns and connecting consumers to local agricultural products

WB Young Building

WB Young Building (Milton Levin/UConn Photo)

Recognizing visionary leadership and diversity in educational programming, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Cooperative Extension, and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) recently announced the 2023 awards.

Among the recipients is UConn Extension’s Jiff Martin. Martin, a sustainable food system educator, received the Northeast region award for individual excellence “for providing solid ground for an inclusive, vibrant, and sustainable agriculture industry and food supply.”

Smiling Jiff Martin
Jiff Martin, UConn Extension educator. (Contributed photo)

“We are thrilled that the USDA-NIFA, Cooperative Extension, and the APLU have recognized Jiff’s excellent work and contribution to sustainable food systems on a national scale,” says Indrajeet Chaubey, dean and director of UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. “This is truly a point of pride for the department, our College, and UConn.”

Martin has worked for over 12 years on food and agriculture issues in Connecticut. Her recent work includes state supervision of FoodCorps CT with 15 service members in some of the highest need school districts of Connecticut, overseeing the development of new extension training and resources for beginner farmers, building a vibrant network of stakeholders through new CT Food System Alliance, researching community food security in Connecticut’s 169 towns, and connecting consumers to local agricultural products and experiences via the CT 10% Campaign on buyctgrown.com. Prior to joining UConn Extension, she was the state director for American Farmland Trust and the food policy director at Hartford Food System. Jiff received her MS in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from Tufts University and an MA in Development Economics and International Trade from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy.

“I’ve been fortunate to work alongside amazing, creative, passionate staff and partners to build several outreach and training programs in the food systems arena,” says Martin. “We do our best to create high quality, relevant learning tools and opportunities.  I’m honored to be selected by the committee for this regional award and like to think of it as a recognition of the great work our team has accomplished together.”

Martin and other award recipients will be honored in November at the APLU annual meeting.

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