Change at CAFM
Welcome Taylor Kamsler Wilson; Rebecca Landis in a new role
After 31 years, Market Director Rebecca Landis is retiring (sort of), and is Taylor Kamsler Wilson is getting her hands in the soil… and on the laptop.
Rebecca is shifting from Market Director into a part-time administrative coordinator position so that CAFM will function smoothly through the transition.
A wonderful tribute to Rebecca was provided by Oregon Farmers Market Association. Please read below to appreciate the impact Rebecca has had beyond CAFM.
Last fall, the Corvallis-Albany Farmers’ Market board hired Taylor Kamsler Wilson to be the next market director and she is hitting the ground running!
Taylor has both food system and small business sector experience. She brings communication and organizational skills as well as knowledge of botany and horticulture. She will provide an outsider’s fresh perspective to the market director job, which has evolved over time.
At OSU’s Vegetable Breeding Program, Taylor helped grow and do research on many crops, then took over management of vegetable variety trials for the Northern Organic Vegetable Improvement Collaborative (NOVIC). This connected her with farmers in the Willamette Valley and expanded her interest in vegetable diversity. She grew from a longtime gardener into a farmer.
For the past couple seasons, Taylor participated in the Corvallis Farmers’ Market through Red Hat Melons, and in Eugene and McMinnville in 2024 as well.
Farmers and small businesses are the backbone of our communities, and it is an honor to become a part of the Corvallis-Albany Farmers’ Markets.
OFMA’s tribute to Rebecca:
While we wish we could be there in person to celebrate this momentous occasion, we want to ensure Rebecca knows how deeply her contributions have shaped farmers markets across Oregon and beyond.
For nearly three decades, Rebecca Landis has guided the Corvallis-Albany Farmers’ Markets, earning the distinction of being among the longest-serving farmers market managers in Oregon. She has shepherded the markets through multiple relocations, cultivated relationships with city and state officials across changing administrations, and celebrated with vendors as they’ve grown from uncertain start-ups to established farm businesses.
But Rebecca’s impact extends far beyond her own markets. She mentored many start up farmers markets in the Willamette Valley area—proving that providing market managers with specialized training bolsters a market’s performance within the community. Moreover, it improves access to healthy foods and sales opportunities that create collaboration, not competition between markets, vendors, and food access programs.
Rebecca utilized her background in government and journalism to transform what many might consider a seasonal volunteer position into a dedicated career. During her time she expanded the market manager’s role with her policy expertise, regulatory knowledge, community partnerships, and unwavering advocacy for both farmers and food access.
Her work in the early 2010s to create and pass landmark legislation brought clarity to farm-direct sales throughout our state. And she was there again with the coalitions bringing the first bills on poultry, eggs, and baked goods. Rebecca was a major force making sure these needed reforms passed and were in service to farms and rural communities.
She started accepting SNAP at her markets in 2007 and fundraised to begin an incentive match in 2010, long before DUFB existed.
OFMA itself has also benefitted from Rebecca’s expertise. In the 1990s, Rebecca stepped up to help resurrect OFMA’s efforts, ensuring that market managers across the state would have a unified voice and support network. She served multiple terms on our board, including as president, providing leadership during critical years of growth for Oregon’s farmers market movement.
Rebecca, you’ve shown us all what dedicated leadership looks like. You’ve made local food systems stronger, small farms more sustainable, and communities more connected to the land that feeds them.
Thank you for your decades of service, your wisdom, and your passionate advocacy.
With gratitude and admiration,
OFMA board of directors and staff