Chandler Briggs, Island Meadow Farm

 Clayton Burrows, Growing Washington 

 Val Campbell

Seth Caswell, emmer&rye

Chef Seth Caswell understands the importance of farmer and chef connections.  Critical to this healthy relationship is the ability to listen to the needs of both parties and develop flexibility and an appreciation of each group’s hardships.  Through extensive volunteer work and his work in Seattle restaurants, he has emerged as a leader in promoting the use of local and sustainable products from the Puget Sound in local restaurants. As President of Seattle Chefs Collaborative, he strives to educate diners, chefs, and co-producers about issues of sustainability. For Seth, supporting local farms means altering menus to accommodate what is seasonal and locally available.  He plans on opening Emmer Restaurant in the spring of 2009 in Seattle.

Andrew T. (‘drew) Corbin, WSU Snohomish County Extension

The latest addition to the Snohomish County WSU Extension Faculty, Andrew (‘drew) Corbin received his PhD in crop and soil science from Michigan State University where he studied the soil quality, weed seed bank and economic dynamics of the three-year transition period from conventional systems to certified organic crops such as corn, soybean, wheat and alfalfa.  He also spent the last ten years as the project manager for the Long-Term Ecological Research site in row-crop agriculture at the Kellogg Biological Station (MSU’s largest agricultural experiment station).  This is the third extension system he has been involved in.  Drew was an agricultural educator for MSU Extension and a regional specialist in Integrated Pest Management with Cornell University.  His goals and interests are to support, maintain and expand the agricultural industry in the greater Puget Sound region, particularly Snohomish and King Counties, by transferring knowledge to current and future growers.  He has been collaborating with interested producers as well as university investigators both on the farm and at the two regional research and education centers in Puyallup and Mt. Vernon.  “When I was asked to interview for this position, one of the first places I turned to was the Cascade Harvest Coalition website – where I could discover the trends producers and consumers follow around the Sound.  Joining the Board of Directors for me was a no-brainer – as I felt the need to give back to the organization that helped me reach my goal of living, working and playing in the Pacific Northwest.”

Julie Kintzi

Jason Salvo, Local Roots Farm

Jason came to agriculture in a roundabout way. Jason started farming after graduating from law school and working as a lawyer for less than one year. Along with his wife Siri, and their business partner Dan Beyers, Jason runs Local Roots Farm -  a small, diversified vegetable farm located in Carnation, WA. They sell vegetables through their CSA program, at Seattle-area farmers markets, and to local restaurants. Jason and Siri had intended on working in the so-called "real world" until they saved enough money to buy a farm of their own. But the summer that Jason studied for the bar exam, Siri interned on a small farm in the Snoqualmie Valley and met Dan Beyers, who owned a beautiful piece of farmland and was looking for partners to farm with. So Jason and Siri scrapped their original plan, threw caution to the wind, and skipped the whole "real world" thing.

Jason believes that the world needs more family farms and he is actively working on policy efforts to repopulate our region's farmland with real, live farmers. He wants you to know that small-scale agriculture is a rewarding business at which anyone can succeed. He also believes that the most subversive and revolutionary things you can do is to grow your own food.

 Lesa Sullivan, LesaCooks

Lesa Sullivan has been a professional cook in the Seattle area for several years. In addition to owning the personal chef service LesaCooks.com, she is a Chef Instructor at FareStart's job training program, PCC Natural Markets and Pacific Culinary Studio. Chef Lesa is a graduate of the Seattle Culinary Academy.