Meet The Sprouts! – Becky
Next up in our Meet The Sprouts! series is Becky Anderson (pictured above on the right). She has been involved off and on with City Sprouts for many years. She currently serves on our Board Development Committee and just finished a stint as our Board President.
Here’s a little more about her:
How long have you been involved with City Sprouts?
My first visit was for the dedication of the original garden. We were invited to bring poetry to commemorate the occasion. My second visit was about a decade later, in 2004 or so, when I was asked to take charge of the garden redesign.
What grows the best in your garden?
Black Walnuts. They kill most other things. Fortunately they spare hostas, impatiens, and spring-flowering bulbs. Over the years, I’ve planted in excess of 20,000 bulbs in my yard.
What are you most passionate about in regards to City Sprouts?
Plants have enormous capacity to improve human quality of life – not only in providing fresh, healthful foods but also in visual appeal and livability of our environments. I see City Sprouts as a way to awaken people to the rich possibilities of plant materials, help them figure out what plants are sustainable in our challenging environments, help them grow to love tending plants – and recognize how these activities build and strengthen communities.
What do you do for a living?
By training I’m a lawyer and a genetic counselor. Currently I teach law and ethics to medical students and public health students at UNMC. I’m also involved on the national level with public policy issues relating to responsible use of human genetic technology.
What are your hobbies?
I enjoy the visual and performing arts. I like to read, walk, bicycle. I have a Bearded Collie who makes sure I get out every day.
Tell us about your family.
I’m married to Bill Minier, a Medical Director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska. We have three children. Our oldest, Brian, lives in Burlington VT with his wife and two children. Alex is getting a master’s degree at NYU in jazz bass. Rachel graduated from Cornell College last spring and is working at Scooter’s while she decides on the next phase of her journey.
What is one thing that no one knows about you?
I can’t think of anything that no one knows. But I can think of lots of things I wish no one knew.
If you had to give up a favorite food, which would be the most difficult to give up?
Valrhona Extra Noir 85% chocolate.
What is one food you’d never want to taste again?
Fermented black beans with raw egg over rice, served to me by the Japanese student I hosted while she attended UNO.
If you won a lottery ticket and had a million dollars, what would you do with it?
At least 10% would go to charitable causes; the rest to college funds or other long-term investments for kids and grandkids.
You’ve been given access to a time machine. Where and when would you travel to?
Holy week – crucifixion and resurrection – could one even understand what one was seeing?
What award would you love to win and for what achievement?
It’d be a kick to win the McArthur Genius Award but I can’t imagine what I might do to earn it; maybe some breakthrough way to achieve truly informed consent in genetic testing?
Which is the best vacation you’ve ever had?
Bill, Alex, Rachel and I visited the Bahamas over Christmas one year, very shortly after my mother’s unexpected death. Following the trauma of that event, our time together in an utterly different world seemed almost like a dream. It let us step away from all the cares we would return to, just for a bit, and was a precious interlude.
What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?
Compassion and integrity. (Is that two things?)
If you could go on a road trip with any person (dead or alive), who would you choose and where would you go?
New Zealand with Bill, Alex, and Rachel. Possibly Will Shakespeare but I’m not sure how good a traveling companion he’d be, or where he’d want to go.
