Bob Klein has been a broadcast television producer, executive producer, national program consultant, and developer/syndicator. He’s currently co-owner of Oliveto Restaurant and founder of Community Grains.
Joe Vanderliet has been in all aspects of the milling business for 55 years. Long dissatisfied with the industry’s preference for refined flours, he opened his own mill, Certified Foods, in 1992 and has been milling whole-grain products exclusively ever since.
Craig Pondsford is founder of Artisan Bakery, winner of the Specialty Breads category of France’s 1996 Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (an international, invitational, artisan baking competition held in Parish every three to four years). He recently opened Pondsford’s Place Bakery & Innovation Center in San Rafael, CA.
Catherine Meng has a certificate in the Culinary Arts from Boston University, as well as an MFA in poetry from the University of Montana. She has been with Community Grains since its inception and continues to compile, create, and collect content for the website, field phone calls from farmers about where to buy seed, and talk to home bakers about their cornbread recipes.
Torie Beedle is our customer relations and store training coordinator. Through nurturing relationships, telling our story and educating our customers on the value of true whole grains and a local grain economy, she works to building meaningful, sustainable connections in our community. She has a MBA in Organizational and Environmental Sustainability from Antioch University New England. She is an avid outdoor enthusiast, craftswoman, folk musician and local food lover. You can read about her work at http://noeticmusings.com/
Inna Volynskaya has a background in environmental science and a passion for sustainable food systems. She runs operations at Community Grains, making sure our products get made and delivered to your local store. She is also pursuing her MBA in sustainable management at Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco.
Jonah Rhodehamel, Executive Chef of Oliveto Restaurant in Oakland, CA has been an amazing resource as we’ve started working towards identity preserved wheats. He’s always game for an experiment & has come up with one of our best tasting products to date: Toasted Durum whole grain pasta. His enthusiasm for local grains can be seen on a daily basis on Oliveto’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus.
Jenny Raven, Pastry Chef at Oliveto has been working with Community Grains flour since 2009 and has created many delicious recipes that are frequently used in the Oliveto Cafe and the dessert menu.
Dallas Mark has held the business and office functions in place at Oliveto nearly since the beginning, and will be doing the same for Community Grains. She’s also pursuing a doctorate in psychology and is a devoted ballet student.
William Rubel, author, food historian, and cook specializing in traditional cooking methods. Extensive research & knowledge of our Trentino/Floriani Red Flint.
Deirdre Davis gained her pastry certification back in 1996 and has worked at several top restaurants around the Bay Area (including Boulevard, Postrio, Spago, baker for Scharffen Berger and pastry chef for Google) since then. Her interest in whole grains and healthier baking recently brought her to work with Craig Ponsford in his new bakery helping with the production and product development. She is working with Community Grains to help develop recipes specifically for use with our unique flours.
OUR FARMERS:
Chip Morris & Jerry Fry of Mohr-Fry Ranches in Lodi, CA
Ian Johnston
Matt Taylor & Peter Buckley of Front Porch Farms in Healdsburg, CA
Brothers Bruce and Rick Rominger ar fifth-generation Yolo County farmers committed to growing crops in a way that protects the environment as much as possible by mimimizing the use of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers, and using drip irrigation to conserve water.
OUR SCIENCE COMMITTEE:
Bruce Ames
Russell Jones
David Killilea
Michael Pollan
Mark Shigenaga
And lots of others:
Bob Adams
Miriam Blanchman
Arthur Bloch
Sterling Burnell
Teresa Chin
Nick Charles
Teal Dudziak
Karen Firestein
Sally Fox
Bill Fujimoto
Al Giusto
Maggie Klein
Mary Kimbal
Rick Kirby
Roberta Klugman
Sierra Lash
Todd Lash
Fergus McGrath
Glenn Roberts
Ameryll Schwartner
Luis Sierra
Max Stepanian
Steve Sullivan
Ric Tombari
David Visher
Gail Wadsworth
Nigel Walker
Brian Wood
