(PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
ARCHBOLD ALUMNI … For the last 10 years, Archbold graduate Chris Wyse (left) has been an agricultural educator throughout the United States and internationally. He recently told Archbold Rotarians about his consulting work in a program arranged by Rotarian Skip Leupp.
After graduating from Archbold High School, Chris Wyse studied to become a counselor who worked with youth who had autism spectrum disorders.
However, he soon decided to change courses and pursue a career that would be mostly outdoors, working with nature.
That decision has led Wyse to a career as an agricultural educator that has taken him throughout the United States and around the world, teaching people how to use minimal inputs when growing food to get the maximize production.
He told Archbold Rotarians that his consulting jobs generally last about four to eight months; however, a recent job with an Orthodox Jewish community in Columbus has lasted 18 months and led to spending three months in Israel recently.
His contract in Columbus involved helping the Orthodox Jewish community identify land near their synagogue that would be suitable for food production and then helping them convert roughly 3.5 acres of largely wooded land into an urban farm using what he called “permaculture” to create and nurture soil conditions that don’t rely on fertilizers and pesticides to maximize food production.
As a result of that work, he spent December, January and February in Israel working with several Orthodox communities there to explain this type of agriculture while the country was at war.
He showed Rotarians video that he took of in-coming missiles being intercepted near the communities where he was staying.
Wyse explained that his consulting job with the Orthodox Jewish community has been an interesting one where he learned about their culture and faith and why they were attracted to his approach to food production.