Alison Baker, farm chef and kitchen manager

Alison Baker joined the team at Cedar Circle Farm as chef and kitchen manager in the spring of 2011.

A graduate of the Chef’s Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, Alison returned to her home state of Vermont after apprenticing at Three Stone Hearth, a pioneering community-supported kitchen specializing in traditional foods in Berkeley, California. While there she also studied naturally leavened breadmaking with artisan baker Eduardo Morell of Morell’s Bread. At Three Stone Hearth, Alison worked with founding worker-owner Jessica Prentice, author of Full Moon Feast, and was inspired by Three Stone Hearth’s model of preparing and processing food at a community scale.

Long days making soups in the kitchen with Three Stone Hearth volunteers followed by long nights hand-shaping dough by the wood fired oven at Eduardo’s bakery in the Marin Headlands convinced Alison of the single most important ingredient in making good food: other people.

With a background in writing, Alison also appreciates the lore of food — the legends and memories and connections to culture that pass from generation to generation along with tastes and tips and smells. She is passionate about re-skilling and building community through food and is active in Vermont’s statewide food security efforts.

In addition to teaching classes and workshops through the farm’s education program, Alison guides the menu planning and production for Cedar Circle Farm’s Festivals, Dinners in the Field, and Hello Café, and is working with Kate and Will to develop more farm products and specialty foods for the farm.

Asked what she wants to accomplish at Cedar Circle Farm, Alison says,

My goal is to feed people better while modeling cooking as a communal act. I envision an open kitchen where people can laugh, learn and be nourished.

photo: Bob Eddy 2011

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