Alexandra Spring, Policy Coordinator, Co-Chair
Alex is an attorney in Montpelier, Vermont. She is dedicated to farming and animal husbandry practices that support biodiversity. On an average weekend you can find her reading with her toes in a river or cooking elaborate meals for any occasion. Alex was drawn to Slow Food for the simple power of the mission: to pursue a food system that is good, clean and fair. To her, Slow Food means respect for food cultures, for ecosystems and for all living beings.
Nick Gambill, Media Production and Community Outreach
Nick appreciates the simple things in life. The uncomplicated. If you ask him, he’ll tell you that life is best lived slowly. Nick’s work with the board began in 2022 when he helped to organize SFVT’s annual Disco Soup Day in collaboration with the Burlington Free Meals Program, an organization he co-founded in 2020. After 4 years spent learning how to cook at A Single Pebble, and 474 free meals served this past summer, Nick is currently focused on the production of a short film in collaboration with Union Brook Farm and Slow Food VT. Currently working at The Great Northern, in April Gambill will join forces with the highly influential Vermont chef Jordan Ware at Frankie’s. In his free time, Nick Gambill enjoys making music and videos. His first song, Telfar Bag, was released in June 2023 - to much applause and adoration. Gambill has amassed a large following - and has been focused on staying true to himself. In the words of Project Pat, “I mess with Nick because he's real ... He's putting good out there.”
Margaret Woodruff,
Treasurer
Margaret lives and works in Charlotte, Vermont, where she is the Director of the Charlotte Library. Margaret moved to Vermont with her family 20 years ago and relishes living in a place where food and food love abound. She loves to garden and to hike and to try new foods and food places. She welcomes the chance to work with Slow Food VT to make local, delicious food available to everyone, much like libraries do with books.
Suzanne Tremblay, Snail of Approval Coordinator
Suzanne’s genes are intertwined with the joy of nature and the emblematic maple stories at the ancestral sugar bush house. Her grandfather, a produce and poultry farmer, her mother a French chef have predisposed her to savor culture and traditional cookery. She traveled the world from China, Japan, India passing by Europe, the Middle East and South America. At every juncture, a passion for the craft of tilling the land, celebrating the bounty of harvests and cultivating community. Here in Vermont, the cradle of Slow Food in America, she has found a sense of place and wholesome food.
Kyle Weatherhogg, Event Coordinator, Co-Chair
Kyle loves the connection between food and people, whether it is planting seeds, tasting a harvest, or preparing a meal. Currently as Senior Manager of Community Engagement in Chittenden County at the Vermont Foodbank, Kyle is committed to increasing food access to fresh and culturally relevant foods. Her past work has come at the nexus of youth and food & agriculture in Farm to School Coordination and work at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps’ Food and Farm Program. Kyle hopes to support and connect local producers, makers, and eaters through advocacy, education, and celebration.
Ada Gardner, Slow Food UVM Representative
Ada brings passion from multiple sides of the story as someone who loves cooking, producing, educating, and sharing food with others. She has worked on multiple farms in her previous home of central New Hampshire, as well as coordinated a Mobile Food Pantry program that provided accessible, local produce to community members. Currently studying Food Systems and Place-Based Education at the University of Vermont, Ada joins Slow Food VT as a representative from the Slow Food UVM chapter.
Maria Reade, Regional Captain - Southern VT
Maria manages compost operations at Someday Farm in Dorset in addition to wearing many other hats on the farm. She served as Dean of Faculty and teacher of English at the Trinity-Pawling School in Pawling, NY for 27 years. She now writes for Edible Green Mountains, Edible Capital District, Northeast Organic Farmers Association periodicals, and Vermont Magazine. Check out her writings at www.mariareade.com. Maria lives in Arlington with her husband, Ned, and their two labs.
Barrie Silver, Special Projects
Barrie has been a member of Slow Food Vermont for years and has enjoyed numerous guided tastings at farmer’s markets, Summervale celebrations, and other events. She also attended (and ate her way through!) Terra Madre/Salone Del Gusto in 2012. Thanks to Slow Food Vermont she discovered ‘Umami’ and is looking forward to many more seasons full of delicious and educational potlucks, classes, and tastings! She enjoys helping to promote good, clean, and fair food by spreading the word about Slow Food in Vermont—and beyond.
Interested in joining the Slow Food Vermont board?
Contact us at slowfoodvt@gmail.com.
Bella Brodsky, Slow Food UVM Co-Chair
With intersecting passions of ecological storytelling, outdoor stewardship, regenerative agriculture, and community care, Bella currently is part of SFVT as a SFUVM representative. She is a farmer at Dandelion Farm, founder and creative director at Sage Magazine, food systems student at UVM, and the co-chair of Slow Food UVM. She loves cooking homemade meals, backpacking with friends, swimming in the river, and taking care of her community
Axandra Boselli , Sustainable Food Advocacy Coordinator
Born to an Italian immigrant father and an American mother, Axandra spent her early childhood years in Italy where she first learned the significance of food and how it connects us all to each other and to the land. She is passionate about the interconnected issues of food and land sovereignty, decolonization and racial justice, collective liberation, and intersectional environmental justice. Axandra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and is currently studying Folk Ancestral Herbalism and Sacred Plant Medicine at The Gaia School of Healing & Earth Education. She has also volunteered on farms around the world, where she learned first-hand about different ecologically just and sustainable practices from composting and bamboo harvesting to tropical forest restoration. Axandra’s strong track record of working with grassroots groups, non-profit organizations, coalitions, foundations, and universities on issues including but not limited to social justice, ecological restoration, animal welfare, food sovereignty and land return reveal her deep commitments to solidarity work with diverse communities through cross-cultural team building, community organizing, policy research and analysis, advocacy, and education.
Adam Thigpen, Ark of Taste Coordinator
Raised in Vermont, Adam started working on a Vermont family farm in 1999, and has moved between farm fields, research greenhouses, and culinary kitchens ever since. His passion for local fare, Vermont’s farms and fields, and especially for eating great food make him a natural fit for Slow Food.
Abra Levin, Slow Food UVM Representative
Aba Levin is a SFUVM representative for SFVT, with passions for nature-conscious and land-based living, community empowerment, and community love. Abra is a Senior at UVM with current interests in ecological economics and agroecology. She finds the greatest joy in being with nature, adventuring, riding her bike, meditating, and spending time with her community, especially when its over good food. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Emeritus
Chris Howell
Former Slow Food Vermont Treasurer, avid gardener, passionate of exploring and sharing Vermont’s food and agricultural story.
Stephan Cantor
Former Regional Captain for the NEK. She has been a great asset to energize Slow Food in northeastern Vermont.
Mara Welton
Former Slow Food Vermont Regional Councilor. She is a passionate gardener and community organizer and advocate of good, clean and fair. She is the current Director of Programs for Slow Food USA.
Sara Jean Whelan
Former Co-Chair of Vermont’s chapter, and member of the Slow Food Youth Network’s Global Steering Committee. Also leader on SFYN USA’s National Board.