Mary

Mary Wessel Walker graduated Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia in 2006 with a degree in Philosophy.  She has worked in the kitchen at Pendle Hill, a Quaker center near Philadelphia, and in Bryn Mawr College’s Dining Services. Mary grew up eating home-cooked food from the Community Farm of Ann Arbor and has been an apprentice there since 2004.

In working at the farm, Mary saw that many members of the farm get their vegetable shares and become somewhat overwhelmed with what to do with all of the diverse harvest. This thinking led her to begin a cooking CSA, offering farm members the option of having their shares prepared into delicious meals. Mary ran and managed the Community Farm Kitchen for three summers thanks to support from her family and many other helpers, including Michelle. By the winter of 2010 it became clear that it was time to take the CFK to the next level.

Michelle

Michelle Hartmann left the corporate world two years ago in search of something that mattered. She became a corporate refugee from interactive and traditional advertising, and transformed herself into a migrant worker for several of the local food entrepreneurs. Putting herself out there, she found Mary and began what would turn out to be the beginning of an incredible journey into local food and sustainability. After working for several local food entrepreneurs Michelle sat down with Mary to identify where the two thought there were windows of opportunity.

Working with other female entrepreneurs like Rena from Locavorious and Kris from Old Pine Farm things began taking shape. The two decided that they could begin a pilot program offering winter comfort food meals with local ingredients while helping to sustain other local businesses in the process.

Thanks to the feedback and enthusiasm from our members and the success of the pilot, Mary and Michelle formed a partnership to transform the Community Farm Kitchen into Harvest Kitchen, a year round local food CSA offering both vegetarian and omnivore shares.

Mary and Michelle are joined in the kitchen by an amazing crew of cooks including Veronica Vincent, Zingerman’s Mail Order Employee meals chef.  The enthusiasm and energy  of our crew of cooks add the two secret ingredients to every Harvest Kitchen dish: joy and love.

Check out the blog for a glimpse into the kitchen and to meet some of the other cooks throughout the season.