Growing Synergy™, LLC (GS) is a Sustainable Food and Agriculture business consulting firm and distribution company. Our Managing Partners, include Trisha Warner Strawn and Rebecca Reis-Miller.
We have a passion for localizing our food system, and met through the local chapter of the International food sustainability organization, Slow Food®. Our combined commitment to a sustainable food model, coupled with industry experience, has positioned us to develop a company dedicated to the future of food.
Our company started in May 2011 with consultation services, and by August 2011 we were on the road providing Florida chefs and consumers with proteins including beef, lamb, veal, poultry, eggs and dairy from Central Florida Farms. Our goal in 2012 is to expand upon our list of proteins to include pork and rabbit, and to provide our offerings to the entire State of Florida. In 2013, we will expand our operation into other southern states.
Trisha Warner Strawn, Managing Partner
Trisha Warner Strawn is a Managing Partner at Growing Synergy. Ms. Strawn just completed her term as Co-Leader of Slow Food Orlando along with Rebecca Reis-Miller. Under their direction, Slow Food Orlando had the first annual Eat Local Week in the Central Florida. This multiple participant event provided funding for 5 of the 11 Florida delegates who attended the International Slow Food Conference, Terra Madre in Turin, Italy where Ms. Strawn and Ms. Reis-Miller represented Florida. Ms. Strawn and her father, David Strawn, were selected as Innovative Farmer of the Year during the Small Farms Conference in 2010. Ms. Strawn was the only rancher representing the farmer when 700 Chefs/Artisans/Writers attended the Let’s Move Campaign held on the Front Lawn of the White House. Ms. Strawn was appointed Florida Food Policy Chairman in April, 2010. Her varied accomplishments have meant that Trish is often requested to speak at different events throughout the state, television, radio, newspaper and magazine articles. Ms. Strawn is also a new member of the Les Dames d’Escoffier Miami.
Rebecca Reis-Miller, Managing Partner
Rebecca Reis-Miller has an extensive background in public relations, community building, Health & Wellness, and Sustainable Agriculture (Market Identification & Strategic Planning, Growing, Producing, Packaging and Distribution). She has consulted and served in several Executive Management positions with health and wellness companies for the past several years as a Managing Partner in the business consulting firm, Sustainable Synergy™, which specializes in the LOHAS™ (Lifestyle of Health & Sustainability) market sector. Her specialized services included: Business Planning, Proposal Writing, Research and Development, Marketing and Public Relations, and Brand Development.
Mrs. Miller believes in the importance of preserving food culture and traditions, defending biological diversity of food, and the value that food ultimately has on the health of the planet. She was the co-founder and Leader of the Orlando Chapter of Slow Food USA, and was a recent Observer at the international food sustainability conference, Terra Madre in Turin, Italy. She also serves as an Advisor for Osceola County Grown, a grassroots local food movement in Osceola County Florida; an assistant for the Florida Food Policy Council; she has served on the Stakeholder planning committee for the Florida Small Farms Conference; and is a current Advisor for Slow Food Orlando. Mrs. Miller graduated from University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Master of Public Administration. She is an active member of Florida Public Relations Association and has also appeared as a guest speaker on local television, radio and events relating to green living and/or sustainable business. She is a singer with the Ambient group, The Drive to Uqbar and resides in Orlando with her husband Charles.