Farmers

JACK ALGIERE
Jack Algiere is farm director at Stone Barns Center. Jack was the first official employee back in 2003, bringing a critical skill set in diversified, regenerative farm practice to the Stone Barns landscape.

FRANCIS DOMOY
Domoy Farms is diversified grain and vegetable farm located in Western New York managed by family and one full time employee.

SETH JOHNSON
The Johnsons have been growing organic grains in Glover, VT for about 15 years. They say that although it can sometimes be challenging to grow grains in Northern Vermont, it’s very satisfying to be able to provide consumers with a product from their local area.

SEAN O’DONNELL
I have had a green thumb for as long as I can remember, it has grown into farming a diversified farm of 400+acres including 100 acres of small grains, cover crop seed, and flint corn.
I farm with my wife Sandra and four kids Shannon, Jackson, Chloe, and Lacey. We have cattle, sheep, horses, chickens, and donkeys. We practice regenerative farming and are certified organic. We believe as farmers it’s our job to promote life and that healthy soil = healthy plants = healthy nutrient-dense food = healthy animals and humans. At Rusted Rooster Farm, We hold that as our ultimate goal and everything we do Works toward that.

THOR OECHSNER
Founder and owner of Oechsner Farms, Thor grew up in the suburbs of New York City in Croton-On-Hudson.
In 1998, he started Oechsner Farms on 44 acres of rented ground. As Thor gained experience and equipment, he steadily added acreage until he could support himself exclusively by farming. In the meantime, he ran a Volkswagen shop and taught diesel mechanics at BOCES. By 2005, he had 400 acres in production, primarily for the organic dairy feed industry.
Today, Oechsner Farms manages 1,200 acres, primarily for organic food-grade and craft beverage markets. The grandson of a German-born pastry chef, he is also one of Farmer Ground Flour’s three business partners.
Millers

LEONARD BUSSANICH
I am an avid hiker and passionate about healthy eating and sourcing local, organically grown food. In 2013, I participated in roundtable discussions with local stakeholders in a region of northern New Jersey called the Musconetcong River Valley.
The initial focus explored the feasibility of developing a local food economy. Through further discussions, research and gatherings, my current colleagues, Mike Hozer, Larry Mahmarian, and I, determined grains for human consumption were the missing piece in the locavore movement and inspired by the grains renaissance developing throughout the Northeast, we helped found River Valley Community Grains in 2016.
Our mission is to restore the soils by encouraging landowners and farmers to transition their fields to growing and harvesting varieties of grain with regenerative agricultural methods. In addition, we hope to rekindle the conversations between farmer, miller, and baker to better meet the demand for nutrient-dense flour and bread.
www.rivervalleycommunitygrains.com
@rivervalleycommunitygrains (Instagram & Facebook)
https://ediblejersey.ediblecommunities.com/food-thought/amber-waves

TONY ROSENFELD
Tony Rosenfeld is the baker and co-founder at One Mighty Mill, a Lynn, MA company whose mission is to bring back the local food systems that help communities be healthy and thrive by stone milling organic wheat and making simple, approachable baked goods.
Prior to starting up One Mighty Mill, Tony co-founded the restaurant group B.GOOD in 2004 with his OMM partner Jon Olinto. There, he oversaw the restaurant’s pioneering application of local sourcing and scratch-cooking to fast casual fare.
Tony has cooked and baked in numerous kitchens at home and abroad. He spent his formative culinary years working at L’Espalier in Boston before conducting a year of apprenticeships in Italy at Bastianelli al Molo in Rome and with Giuliano Bugialli in Tuscany.
Tony is also an accomplished food writer, serving as a contributing editor at Fine Cooking. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Bon Appetit. Tony serves on the Board of Advisors for the Food Voice. In his free time, Tony likes to run and swim to work off all of the whole grains.
Maltsters

EMILY HILL
Emily her partner Judd and two young children reside, creekside in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. As enthusiastic consumers of craft, they were inspired to find their niche. In 2016, Judd and Emily established an artisanal malthouse to bring locally grown and malted grains to the local brewery, the local distillery, and the local bakery.
@murmurationmalts

ANDREA STANLEY
Since 2009 Andrea Stanley has been on a mission to bring the malthouse to a local level and make visible an important part of the food system. With her husband Christian, a small but mighty staff, and committed farmers from around the Northeast, Valley Malt turns local grains into malt for craft brewers and distillers in the Northeast.
Andrea is passionate about the tradition and science of malting and shares her passion with anyone who will listen. In 2013, she helped form the Craft Maltster’s Guild and was the Chair of the Board for 5 years as the craft malt industry got off the ground and established it’s roots in North America. The work at Valley Malt is driven by passion to play a part in making local beers and spirits that we can all celebrate together. With the recent forming of the Northeast Grainshed, Valley Malt is focused on becoming even more collaborative and committed to a sustainable, transparent, and regionalized food system that celebrates our land and people.

SPENCER THRALL
Bakers

SHARON BURNS-LEADER
Co-owner and COO of Bread Alone Bakery – hearth baking breads using grains grown organically since 1983.
Sharon is committed to feeding people good food and to supporting changes that will bring about positive outcomes for her community and for the environment. Bread Alone is committed to reducing green house gas emissions – in 2018 installed a 197kw solar array – effectively bringing 1/3 of our energy in from the sun.
Sharon and her team helped introduce organic whole wheat sliced bread to generations of young eaters (Bread Alone’s Catskill Wheat Loaf in 1998) as well as bring a line of Nordic Breads to market. These loaves feature New York State grown grains in a fully fermented and grain packed loaf (100% Rye, 100% Einkorn and Rye & Spelt Seeded Loaf).
www.breadalone.com
@sharonburnsleader
@breadalonebakery

ANNE MAYHEW
LMNOP Bakery is a community-supported bakery in Katonah, NY.
@lmnopbakery (Instagram)

RICHARD MISCOVICH
Richard Miscovich is an assistant professor and department chair of The International Baking & Pastry Institute at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI.
https://www.facebook.com/richard.miscovich
Instagram: @rmiscovich1
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/from-the-wood-fired-oven/

JESS WAGONER
Jess Wagoner is a professional bread baker, instructor, and artist. The hand-forged nature of baking is what drew her to the craft in 2009, where she worked at A&J King Artisan Bakers and stayed for ten years, during which time she became the Bread Production Manager.
Instagram: @jess.wagoner
Website: www.grainiacsunite.com
Brewers

BARRY LABENDZ
Barry is one of the founders of Kent Falls Brewing Company, a working farm brewery in Kent, CT. Growing up in NJ, Barry was deeply impacted by the impact his grandparents’ bakery had on his family and their community.
@kentfallsbrewing

JASON PERKINS
Jason Perkins is the brewmaster of Allagash Brewing in Portland Maine He was one of the first employees in the company and he has been there for the past 21+ years.

BEN ROESCH
Co-founder Wormtown Brewery. Committed to increasing acreage of grains grown in the Northeast Grainshed by putting “A Piece of Mass in Every Glass”.
@worcesterbrewer

MATTHEW STEINBERG
Matthew Steinberg is a proud father and husband. He spends much of his down time with them and thoroughly enjoys those family moments. As the Co-Founder and Head Brewer of Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Company,
Matthew’s commitment to quality, freshness and the use local ingredients has been evident from his first homebrewing experiments in 1994. Honey and juniper berries was all he could find in Flagstaff, AZ at the time, but using those ingredients from his own yard just felt right. With 21 years of professional brewing experience, Matthew has become friends with his heros, consumed many world class beers and has been to 100s of breweries. He also has had the opportunity to use so many high quality ingredients from all over the world.
With a focus of sourcing the best ingredients possible for his beers, he is proud to use Valley Malts as his local supplier of grains for the betterment of his beers and in support of the Northeast Grainshed pledge that his brewery has committed to. Matthew has lofty and exciting plans for his brewery and our collective future in brewing and looks forward to being on the Advisory Board for the Northeast Grainshed to help tell the story of supporting our local supply chain.
FB/Insta/Twitter: @exhibitAbrewing

JC TETREAULT
Jean-Claude Tetreault is the co-founder of Trillium Brewing Company. Trillium’s celebratory ales were first crafted to commemorate his marriage to co-founder, Esther Tetreault.
Distillers

MIMI BUTTENHEIM
Mimi joined Mad River Distillers in May of 2015. Her career in food, wine and spirits spans 17 years and multiple coasts.

ZACHARY ROBINSON
I grew up in Maine, and went to college in Boston where I received a masters in organic chemistry. In 2014 I helped found Short Path Distillery, a distillery that focuses on using local ingredients whenever possible.
https://shortpathdistillery.com
@spdistillery www.facebook.com/shortpathdistillery
Restaurants

KYLE ANDERSON
Through the study of Industrial Design at Syracuse University, Kyle found his interest in not only curating experiences but exposing the entire process from idea to end product.

SUZANNE HAYS
After studying Animal Behavior at Hawaii Pacific University I moved to Boston to continue a career in animal training.
Instagram: @_suzanimal
Printed in the book: Where to Drink Beer by Phaidon Press
Featured in Boston Magazine, The Boston Globe, ReadOctober, boston.com
2017 Eater Young Gun Semi-Finalist

AYR MUIR
Ayr Muir is the Founder and CEO of Clover Food Lab, a nationally recognized restaurant company operating 12 restaurants in the Greater Boston Area.
Educators

NEFTALI DURAN
Neftalí Durán is a community cook, advocate, educator, and organizer, working towards an equitable food system and building a network of indigenous food leaders.
Neftali’s work is grounded in the belief that access to food is a human right. Neftali’s work is informed by his own experience as an indigenous and formerly undocumented migrant worker and 20 years of experience in the restaurant and food industry as chef, baker, and small business owner.
He owned and operated a wood-fired brick oven bakery from 2003-2015, called El Jardin bakery, the sister bakery to hungry ghost bread. He also works in community around indigenous culinary traditions, the effects of migration on people and food, and the environment. He is interested in documenting the culinary traditions of the different regions of Oaxaca, Mexico, reclaiming the roots and culture of the original peoples of the Americas, having conversations about the impact of colonialism in our communities in regards to traditional food-ways as well as engaging on conversations about the how climate change will impact frontline communities.
Instagram: @neftaliduran_

MATTHEW HOFFMAN
Matthew Hoffman is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Economics at the University of Southern Maine, where he teaches courses on agriculture and society.
Matthew’s research spans food systems, natural resource management, and regional planning, focusing on the challenges of landscape- and systems-level decision-making in places with highly fragmented property rights and governance structures. When not teaching or in Norway, Matthew is at home in Vermont, probably visiting with beavers along the Harrisville Brook.

HEIKE MEYER
Heike Meyer was born in Berlin, Germany and studied Food & Nutrition as well as Tourism & Foreign Languages. Heike learned the craft of baking at Weichard Brot, Berlin’s oldest biodynamic bakery.
Instagram: @brotbakery
Researchers

HEATHER DARBY
I am a certified organic farmer located in Alburgh Vermont. My husband and I were both raised on diversified farms and have farmed on our own for 20 years. In addition, I also have worked as an Extension and Research Agronomist with the University of Vermont for 17 years.

AARON MACLEOD
Aaron MacLeod has been involved with malting and brewing quality testing and research for 15 years and is currently the Director of the Hartwick College Center for Craft Food and Beverage.

ELLEN MALLORY
Ellen Mallory, a Professor and Sustainable Agriculture Extension Specialist with the University of Maine, conducts research and outreach on issues related to grain production, soil health, soil fertility, and climate adaptation.

JUNE RUSSELL, GrowNYC
June Russell is the Manager of Farm Inspections and Strategic Development for GrowNYC, a not for profit environmental organization based in New York City, which operates the largest network of farmers markets in the country.
https://www.grownyc.org/grains
Instagram: @grownycgrains
Instagram: @grownyc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowNYCGrains

CHERYL THAYER
Cheryl Thayer is an Agricultural Economic Development Specialist with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Harvest New York Team.
website: https://harvestny.cce.cornell.edu/
twitter: @Harvest_NY
facebook: @HarvestNY
Authors

AMY HALLORAN
Amy Halloran was the first manager of Troy, New York’s Farmers’ Market, where she saw a need to tell the hidden stories of farming. This conviction led to her book, The New Bread Basket, a record of and template for the revival of regional grain production.
@flourambassador on Instagram
@farmbrain on Twitter
Partners

AMANDA DEWALD
Amanda DeWald has dedicated two decades to community development. She is a public educator, journalist, and tradeswoman.
Within the broader goal of public education, Amanda has worked as a journalist for
small newspapers and public radio, focusing coverage on agriculture and food, land
conservation, education, workers’ issues, and economic development. She was a staff journalist at The Anniston Star (Anniston, AL) and The Register Star (Hudson, NY), has produced for Alabama Public Radio, and WBAI New York and is a Knight Fellow in Community Journalism. Reverence for food and land have been defining values in Amanda’s life since childhood, raised in the kitchen around three generations of a family rich in food heritage. Inspired by her family, she has studied and supported local food systems since the late 1990’s.
Bread baking has been her primary avocation for eight years, and has led her into the world of traditional fermentation and regional grains. She is mostly self-taught as a baker, and also has done several short apprenticeships with bakers in Troy, Kauneonga Lake, Albany and Andes, New York. She has been a member of the Maine Grain Alliance’s Kneading Conference since 2015, and has completed baking education courses at Sullivan County Community College (Loch Sheldrake, NY), King Arthur Flour (Norwich, VT) and Wide Awake Bakery (Trumansburg, NY). She is a member of the Bread Bakers Guild of America and the Northeast Grainshed.

NADINE MAGAC
Nadine is a project management professional with experience managing complex, multi-disciplinary corporate programs.