Matt decided to get a Geoscience single-subject teaching credential at UC Irvine, and after several years of teaching Marine Science (chemistry, biology, ecology, and other related topic concerning the world’s oceans) and ROP Environmental Horticulture (career technical education in using plants for beauty, shelter, and food) at Northwood High School (Irvine, CA), he became extremely interested in the connection between the food we eat and the negative impacts of modern agriculture on the health of the oceans (acidification, ocean warming, dead zones, etc.), so he telephoned his old Peace Corps friend Nathan.

In 1999, Matt and Bobbie Brown met Nathan McFall in a small village, Kuma-Dunyo, in Togo, West Africa. They worked with farmers, non- government organizations, and students introducing and implementing environmental awareness and education programs, soil conservation techniques, and animal husbandry.

After serving as an Environmental Protection Extension Agent teaching farming and environmental education in Africa for two years in the Peace Corps, Nathan found that his passion was in living close to the Earth and in a community where it truly takes a village to move through life well.  

In 2010 in collaboration with Matt Brown, Benjamin Green and Bobbie Brown, Nathan formed Food Waves focusing on producing organic food for the local Portland, Oregon market, they see their mission growing farmers in a movement they call small acre stewardship.

Food|Waves promotes sustainable agriculture as a long-term solution to major environmental issues facing the overall health of the world’s soil, water and people. Our aim is to develop future farmers by providing the technical and financial support necessary to learn how to grow organic food for local consumers.

Videotaped July 2, 2011 by Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv, voices of sustainability with music by Benjamin Bogosian.