Cooking Up a Story Contributors

Rebecca Gerendasy, co-founder, executive producer, and creator of Cooking Up a Story video content has enjoyed a distinguished 25-year career in television news, most of it in the San Francisco Bay Area at KTVU. News taught Rebecca what constitutes a good story, and how to succinctly capture all the necessary story elements. She also draws on her roots as an artist to craft these stories into interesting pieces that can be enjoyed by a wide viewing audience. It’s really an amalgamation: her formal art background, professional career in television, keen interest in personal stories, and her concern for the environment. rebecca (at) cookingupastory.com

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As co-founder of Cooking Up a Story (CUPS), Fred Gerendasy is involved in many aspects of the Show including the development of strategic partnerships, marketing, and serving as the managing editor for the site. He enjoys writing, and learning about the many facets of our food system, and the challenges and opportunities for change. Fred contributes written posts on occasion, and welcomes thoughtful suggestions how to improve the show and the site, and hearing from those interested in contributing to CUpS.

fred (at) cookingupastory.com

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With family roots in the black gold of the fertile Red River Valley, Lynn Torrance Redlin has been inspired and challenged by the diversity of opinion and characters found on the Cooking Up A Story shows. As Associate Producer, Lynn is involved in the research and production process, conducting interviews on a wide-ranging variety of topics and issues. “I love being able to share meaningful conversations with farmers and ranchers, writers and scientists and more,” she says. “Helping to tell their stories is a real honor.”

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Nathan Winters Nathan Winters rode a bicycle across America to discover first-hand why our food system had grown to be unsustainable, and to find alternative solutions. He traveled into the homes and communities of organic, conventional, urban and Amish farmers and community organizers. This ongoing series—to be posted every other Wednesday— represents select material from The Unconventional Harvest, a work in progress, by Nathan A. Winters. If you are an editor or book publisher interested in working with Mr. Winters, you may contact him directly though his website or on twitter.

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Mark Keating has worked in the organic, sustainable and local food movements since 1982. His work experience includes commercial food service, farm labor, retail sales and marketing, state and federal civil service, non-profit advocacy, academia, journalism and conducting organic inspections. While working for the USDA National Organic Program between 1999 and 2002 Mark helped draft the national organic standards for crop and livestock production. He spent two more years with the USDA Marketing Services Branch working to develop and promote farmers markets. Mark also worked for the NOP in 2010. An inveterate believer that organically raised and locally distributed food offers the surest path to human health and planetary survival,Mark, his wife and their daughter live alongside the Pequest River in New Jersey, the Garden State.

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Rebecca Thistlethwaite is the author of the forthcoming book Farms with a Future: Creating and Growing a Sustainable Farm Business. She runs a farm and food business consulting firm called Sustain Consulting and is starting a small homestead in Washington with her family. Rebecca also serves on the board of the Sustainable Food Trade Association and writes her own blog Honest Meat. Her other recent pursuits include training oxen, trail running, and learning how to make fermented foods.

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David E. Gumpert reports and writes about health and food issues. He is the author of The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights, which includes a preface by Joel Salatin. His popular blog, The Complete Patient, has over the last five years been instrumental in launching a national discussion about government-imposed restrictions on the availability of nutrient-dense food and in highlighting an emerging debate over food rights.

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Heather Jones is a wife, mother, freelance food writer and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She has worked for Gourmet Magazine, TV Personality Katie Brown, and the New York based Indian-fusion restaurant Tabla. Heather resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. She is a strong supporter of the Sustainable Food Movement and believes that education is the key to making a difference.

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Joe Miller Joe Miller has worked in U.S. patent law since 1994, and has been a law professor since 2001. He teaches at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, OR, where he has lived since 2002. He loves enjoying delicious food and great wine with friends, so Portland is a wonderful place to live!

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TwoJunes are two women with diverse backgrounds in the food industry, and have figured out how to balance their professional lives, with their home life, preparing, fresh wholesome meals, much of it from their own food garden. Lisa Bell has been a pastry chef, recipe developer, food stylist, and a food scientist, and now works as a freelance producer, writer and editor. Nicole Rees is a food writer, and cookbook author (Baking UnPlugged), and currently works as a baking scientist.

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Joya Parsons Joya Parsons is the owner and principal operator of Quite Contrary Gardens Homestead in Sussex County, Delaware. A former IT professional and US Navy veteran, she has spent the last ten years learning the art of organic growing and sustainable living. She is working within her own community to make a local, sustainable food system a reality through education, outreach and example. If she’s not outside getting her hands in the dirt or tending her chickens, she can normally be found with her nose in the latest issue of Mother Earth News.

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In 2009, Ash Terry and his new bride traveled around the globe for 5 months, and filmed their experiences within the WWOOF! organizations of France, Japan, Italy, and India. Together, they are working on a feature film documenting this journey. “WWOOF! The Movie” is about a collective of organizations that go by the acronym WWOOF: World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Ash graduated from the University of Montana in 2004 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Media Arts. Since then, he has worked in broadcast news, commercial and television production houses, radio, and internet broadcasting.

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Jan Weber’s career in television and film production spans some 35 years. Over that time she has produced, directed, and written commercials, corporate programs, network pilots, and co-produced two feature films. Her 2005 documentary, As We Sow documents the vanishing family farms in Iowa, and paints a personal picture of the devastation large (mega) corporate farming inflicts upon the small farmer, and their local communities.

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Daniel Klein After learning to cook at his mother’s bed and breakfast, Daniel Klein (The Perennial Plate) went on to work and train at many of the world’s top restaurants. His culinary education brought him to Spain, France, England, India and New York, where he has worked and trained at top Michelin starred restaurants. After graduating from NYU, Daniel also pursued a career in film. Daniel’s most recent film “What are we doing here?” has aired on TV, in theaters and at numerous festivals around the world.

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