Long Distance: Chris Campany

Here: Founder and executive director of the Baton Rouge Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance (BREADA), co-creator of Red Stick Farmers’ Market.

There: Assistant professor of landscape architecture at Mississippi State University, Starkville, Miss.

When did you leave Baton Rouge?

I left at the end of 1999 to coordinate work on the 2002 Farm Bill for the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture. I’ve also served as Deputy Commissioner of Planning for Orange County, New York, and Deputy Director of Planning and Zoning for Calvert County, Maryland.

What do you miss about Baton Rouge?

Friends, all of the farmers, volunteers and patrons at the Farmers’ Market, the people in the neighborhoods where we organized community gardens, and the vigorous planning and design efforts downtown and in historic South Baton Rouge.

What don’t you miss about Baton Rouge?

August – it’s just too damned hot. But then it wouldn’t be Baton Rouge if it weren’t.

What does Baton Rouge have that you wish your new city had?

I wish Starkville had a planning and design initiative such as that which has taken root in Baton Rouge.

What’s essential when you come back to visit?

Visiting friends, going to the Red Stick Farmers’ Market, Main Street Market, and the Artists’ Market. Lunch at India’s. A stroll around the LSU campus and design building, and draft cider on tap with barbecue shrimp at The Chimes.

When were you in town last?

In November 2005 for a fundraiser in support of BREADA’s efforts following Katrina. It was great to see that the Red Stick Farmers’ Market had opened itself to vendors from the Crescent City Farmers’ Market.