About
About the 49% Collective: the growers and advocates behind it
We are creating a scalable framework for a quality local community ecosystem to support cannabis culture as we reconnect to gardening and farming. This community is built by those showing up to do the work.
Our mission: community stewardship through home gardening
49% Collective exists to cultivate community stewardship through home gardening, shared knowledge, and regenerative cannabis culture.
Our vision starts in San Diego County
We envision thriving local communities where home gardens, regenerative agriculture, and responsible cannabis stewardship create pathways for health, education, entrepreneurship, and equitable access, beginning right here in San Diego County.
A steward cares for people without trying to own them
We call for stewardship of our community and respect for the plant. A steward in this sense is someone who:
- Cares for people without trying to own or control them.
- Creates conditions where others can flourish.
- Practices deep listening before offering solutions.
- Protects peace and understanding within a community.
- Leads through presence more than authority.
We encourage a space for mindfulness, compassionate speech, deep listening, ethical conduct, reducing suffering, and helping one another. Come see it at the collective’s events, and read how membership is taking shape.
The growers and advocates doing the work
Farmer Tom Lauerman
In 1999 Farmer Tom was cultivating medical cannabis in San Diego, and he was arrested for it. He is now pursuing a San Diego County cannabis cultivation license, after more than 30 years of advocacy.
He was the first cannabis farmer to collaborate with a federal agency, partnering with CDC/NIOSH on training about cannabis production and processing. He worked with Washington State lawmakers to legalize cannabis concentrates, co-instructed Cannabis and Your Health at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, and leads the Hemp Farming Academy. Most recently he has advocated for a realistic San Diego County Social Equity program and for outdoor cultivation.
farmertomorganics.com · Watch Farmer Tom’s story · Read his Prop 215 collective story
Wade Olsen
San Diego native Wade Olsen is a lifelong cannabis cultivator, advocate, and approved social equity applicant across Southern California. He combines decades of West Coast farming with certifications from UC Davis and the Environment Celebration Institute, and specializes in sustainable cultivation, rare genetics and traditional processing.
As a medical patient, Wade champions patient rights and independent growers. He is pioneering a farmer-owned cooperative model and founding the California Rare Cannabis Growers, so small equity brands and rare genetics keep a protected place in the industry.
Russell Palmer, MBA
Russell Palmer is a San Diego based community builder, digital marketing strategist and event producer focused on cannabis wellness, education, and small-farmer access to market. After the pandemic he worked with a SoCal cannabis events team supporting the San Diego Cannabis Farmers Market (Farmers Cup), helping with consumption activations at Balboa Park’s Earth Day, the Adams Avenue Street Festival and Bay Fest’s Kush Cove, and coordinating small-farmer outreach and sponsorships for 3 to 4 Farmers Cup events a year from 2020 to 2024.
Russell founded Cannabis Consumers Union, the Cali-Sober Movement, Meet the Farmer, HQ Coworking and other community initiatives. His mission is to restore cannabis to its place in farmers market culture. @russell.the.fire
Amanda Muñoz
Amanda Muñoz is a mother, community advocate, cannabis educator, brand representative, and steward of the knowledge that connects people. She believes some of the most valuable knowledge in a community is learned through experience and passed person to person, from growing and seed exchange to traditional trades, practical skills and education.
As a mother working in cannabis, she brings a grounded perspective on patient advocacy and responsible education. Her connection to the Cali-Sober movement reflects her own choice not to drink. Her view is that community is not something people talk about. It is something they practice.
Nicholas R. A. Verboom
Nicholas is an operations strategist, legacy cultivator and multi-venture operator. His cultivation began at 13 and grew into commercial ventures across California, Colorado and Michigan, including work alongside Mickey Martin at Tainted Edibles and High Times Cannabis Cup wins for edibles and topicals under Sweet Stone Candy Company.
Outside cannabis he runs site operations for brands including Fox Racing, Bell Helmets and CamelBak, and ground logistics for events like the NFL Draft, Red Bull Rampage and the Detroit Jazz Festival. He owns Skunky’s Shave Ice in Fallbrook, California.
Kaleb Nasworthy
Kaleb is a photographer and hands-on problem solver from the Texas Hill Country, with work behind him in ranching, construction, heavy machinery, wind energy and catastrophe insurance adjusting. To Kaleb, stewardship means leaving things better than you found them: respecting the plant, the land, and the people doing the work.
Our in-house marketing team is the Organic Digital Collaborative
Three specialists serving one collective with one goal: a stronger San Diego cannabis marketplace. The Organic Digital Collaborative helps the collective capture content, attract partners with a stewardship mindset, and share the education we create as a community. It also takes on startup businesses as clients to fuel the bigger picture.
- Jeremy Rivera – a 20-year SEO veteran, founder of SEO Arcade and host of the Unscripted podcast network. Entity SEO, AI-search visibility, and authority built through real conversations.
- Russell Palmer – San Diego marketing strategist behind Local Marketing. Grassroots PPC, analytics, social media and events.
- Rob Bonham – fractional SEO consultant behind The SEO Advisory, two decades across agencies, e-commerce and local businesses.
They collaborate with photographer Kaleb Nasworthy. If you run a business in the San Diego County cannabis industry and want marketing help, reach out to the collective.
Come build the San Diego County community with us
Join the weekly call on Wednesdays at 7pm, led by Farmer Tom Lauerman, Wade Olsen and Russell Palmer. Send your email to Russell@californiacannabisfarmersmarket.com and we will add you to the call.