New Orleans, LA - Daniel Nguyen works as a project manager with MQVN Community Development Corporation in New Orleans East. His work encompasses workforce development, environmental justice, and incubation of aquaponics and other sustainable industries. He is currently the project manager of the start-up enterprise, VEGGI Farmer's Cooperative, which utilizes sustainable practices such as aquaponics to create local jobs and provide local produce to New Orleans area restaurants and markets. Nguyen has also worked extensively the Gulf region after the 2010 BP oil drilling disaster, providing technical assistance to affected workers, leading community-based participatory research on the environmental impacts of the spill, and helping to develop a campaign for Gulf-wide subsistence compensation.

Awards

Recipient of the Fellows Fund micro-grant award for: VEGGI Farmer’s Cooperative Composting Project MQVN Community Development Corporation – New Orleans, LA

The VEGGI Farmer’s Cooperative Composting Project was designed to divert waste from landfills in the community and support local farmers by building composting systems on farms and working with residents and businesses to provide food waste. The project will increase local food security by promoting local and sustainable agriculture and engaging community members in working with local farmers. The composting business will also serve as a revenue stream for the VEGGI Farmer’s Cooperative making it more sustainable in the long term.