The eight-acre Mother Earth Farm, a project of the local Emergency Food Network, supplies organic produce to more than 70 food banks and hot meal sites in Pierce County, Wash. Run by Carrie Little, with help from more than 1,000 volunteers each year, Mother Earth Farm continues to increase production - as evidenced by the produce distributed annually. In the first season, they sent 60,000 pounds of produce to food banks. Three years later, in 2003, they distributed 106,000 pounds. Volunteers remain crucial to the effort. In a unique arrangement, Little connected with a state correctional facility to employ a work crew of female inmates. The inmates work four days throughout the growing season, providing Little with labor and them with an opportunity to learn about organic farming. At least one inmate has pursued farming upon release.

A proponent of careful water use, Little uses drip irrigation throughout her fields. She raises bees, considering them integral to the food cycle, and composts her vegetables "seconds" into a nutrient-rich soil additive. A frequent speaker at community events, Little promotes educational opportunities for sustainable farming and is at the forefront of a local movement to provide housing for women emerging from correctional environments.