I have always been passionate about food, which is what drew me to a career in nutrition. One of the aspects of food that I find most fascinating is how food can bring people together, and how it is one of the strongest fabrics of family life. Many of my childhood memories involve food, and I was taught to have a respect and an appreciation for food, for the people who produced and prepared it, as well as for the costs involved in bringing it to our table. Since I was very young I have had a strong desire to preserve food and share it through the winter months, as we did when I was young.

   One of my other interests is farming, although I have never had the opportunity to farm myself. I love to garden, and have had a vegetable garden wherever I have lived. I simply just love to dig in the dirt! I recently started a community garden and am helping my neighbors learn how to plant and harvest their own vegetables. It is a dietitians’ dream to have kids come by on their bikes and ask for some snap peas to nibble on! I have also been a member of the Intervale Community Farm for many years, and pick up my CSA weekly at the farm. Interacting directly with the people who grow your food and being on the land that has produced it is truly inspiring. I sorely miss my farm visits during the few spring months when the CSA is not operating.

   In my professional life I have been lucky to be able to express my passion for local and sustainable food, and translate it into action on a larger scale. I work as Director of Nutrition Services in the largest hospital in Vermont, and have been able to develop and implement a sustainable food program that is nationally recognized. There is still much to do, but we have forged new ground in terms of food being an integral part of prevention and healing. I worry that food (and the food system) in this country has actually become detrimental to our health. It doesn’t need to be that way, and the recipes and harvest hints in “Cooking close to Home” are examples of how we can all do things differently. I hope that you enjoy every recipe, and that you put some, if not all of the ideas in the book into action.   Bon appetit!