Season 1: April 2012-April-2013
Cooking Up a Story is pleased to announce the formation of The Collective, an eclectic mix of local food leaders, and well connected folks in the sustainable food and agriculture world who are sharing their incredible ideas and first-hand knowledge directly with CUPS.
We are tapping into this collective brain trust to bring even more exciting, diverse, and vibrant programming to our upcoming Food Farmer Earth series that launches in early April on YouTube. Our Food Farmer Earth channel will exclusively carry this new CUPS series, but it will be both sharable through the YouTube player (using their embed codes) on third-party websites, including our own, and by internet streaming to almost any connected phone, tablet, and television device on the planet.
We are honored to present the following members of The Collective:
Kathleen Bauer, a native Oregonian, is a longtime passionate foodie, and writer for the Oregonian, and other publications. Through her GoodStuffNW blog, Bauer likes to give recognition to those who do good work, and her blog provides a comprehensive set of invaluable local resources on the Portland food and farms scene.
Anthony and Carol Boutard, co-owners of Ayers Creek Farm, an Oregon Tilth, certified organic farm, located just outside Portland, grow a variety of specialty grains, fresh shell and dry beans, orchard fruits and berries, and winter vegetables, that not only taste better, they are less likely to be commercially available in the supermarket. They also sell their food directly to select restaurants, and to eaters who shop at the local Hillsdale Farmers Market. Disclosure: we purchase their food at the farmers market, and can personally attest to their freshness, and taste.
Liz Crain, author of the popular book, The Food Lover’s Guide to Portland writes about Pacific Northwest food and drink for online and print publications. In a town bursting at the seams with artisan bake shops, micro-breweries and micro-distilleries, food carts, neighborhood restaurants, and cheese shops, Crain’s guide is an indispensable tool for quickly navigating the local food culture.
Harriet Fasenfest is fiercely loyal to discovering the deeper truths about life, and to growing, cooking, and preserving fresh food. In her lifetime she has owned small restaurants, continues to teach on a wide variety of food subjects, especially relating to food preservation, and householding, and her recent book, A Householders Guide to the Universe, and her DVD, Preserving With Friends are both required resources in any serious food enthusiast’s library collection.
Michele Knaus, executive director with the nonprofit organization Friends of Family Farmers (FOFF), meets with small farmers across the state, and understands the challenges that they face. Her organization is involved in supporting food policy initiatives to help Oregon farmers maintain their profitability, and to thrive. A graduate of Portland State University Master’s Degree Program Leadership for Sustainability Education, she is also involved in educating eaters about our food system at their monthly Friends of Family Farmers InFARMation (and Beer!) event.