< Back to Oral History project: Oxford Community Market

ORAL HISTORY

Doug Davis

Yokna Bottoms Farm

Doug Davis is the owner and operator of Yokna Bottoms Farm in Oxford, MS. Growing up between Colorado, Idaho, and New Mexico, Doug always had an interest in gardening and being outside. He got hands-on experience in farming from working for an experimental cereal grains breeding project at Oregon State University for several summers in college and afterwards. Doug earned a bachelor’s degree in History at Southern Oregon University and then starting teaching. In 1989, his interest in teaching brought him down to teach in the schools in Baton Rouge, LA. He continued following his interest in farming at Louisiana State University’s Rural Life Museum in the summers between teaching. After earning his PhD at LSU, Doug taught at Georgia State University and then relocated to Oxford in 2007 to teach at the University of Mississippi. In 2009, he and a former student started developing what would become Yokna Bottoms Farm, an organic farm with the goals of increasing access to local foods in north Mississippi and to engage the community through outreach. Doug also was involved in the early days of the Oxford City Market and served as a board member when it became the Oxford Community Market. He has been a constant presence at the Market throughout its lifetime.