Winnona Merritt

An emphasis on the intricate ecosystem of human and planet underpins Winnie’s promotion of agriculture and of all things regenerative. Nurtured by her life in rural New York state, Virginia, North Carolina, and the Caribbean, she created programs with like-minded people for governmental bodies and Bahá’í institutions. They included placing youth apprentices around the world on sustainable farms and introducing permaculture to island officials. Her All-Terrain Gardens, an odd but extremely popular method of growing organic food in tires, increased food security and diminished overburdened landfills in small island nations. Those with no land at all and those in wheelchairs could even enjoy food from gardens on pavement and patios. At the UN Conference on Sustainable Development of Small-Island Developing States in Barbados, her 20-foot-tall puppets talked to each other about values necessary for sustainability as they greeted visiting dignitaries and local school children. Winnie and her husband, Oscar, raised six children in Mount Airy, North Carolina. They all came to love the land. She attended Cornell University (1955-57) and has a B.S. in Science Education from Salem College (1959). She currently lives in High Point, NC, USA.