There are many who have nourished us, both in ideas and edibles, who inspired us to take the road less traveled, and who continue to challenge us in every way, from how we generate our energy to what we serve on the table.
In particular, we’d like to give thanks to the many inspiring people and visionary grassroots organizations we’ve had the honor to partner with, including but definitely not limited to: Faye Jones and the amazing staff at the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES); Jan Joannides and Brett Olson at Renewing the Countryside; Mark Muller, Abby Rogosheske, Jim Harkness and all the folks involved with the Kellogg Food & Community Fellows program and the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy; the energizing staff at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association; the staff with our Wisconsin Department of Tourism, especially those involved with the Travel Green Wisconsin program; BowTie Publications, publishers of Hobby Farms, Hobby Farm Home and Urban Farm. Jamie Lamonde and Edible Madison; Bill McKibben at 350.org; MaryJane Butters of MaryJanesFarm; Kat Steele and the Esalen Institute, all those creative editors and art directors at Ogden Publications, publishers of Mother Earth News and Natural Home magazine; Brian Halweil and the rest of the staff at World Watch Institute; Alisa Gravitz and Denise Hamler the rest of the tireless worker bees at Green America; Guillermo Payet at LocalHarvest.org; Donna Neuwirth at the Worm-farm Institute; Bill and Becky Wilson at Midwest Permaculture; Peter Nicholson and Foresight Design; Rodney North (the Answer Man) and the rest of the folks at Equal Exchange; Mark Shepard; Mary Bergin; Terese Allen; Jim Slama at Familyfarmed.org; Nell Newman; Michael Pollan and Curt Ellis.
Kudos, likewise, to the farmers, food entrepreneurs and culinary artisans who grace our kitchen with the fresh, seasonal, local or sustainable ingredients not found in our gardens. Thanks to Organic Valley Family of Farms, Equal Exchange, the cheesemakers and brewmasters of Green County, our Willy Street Co-op, Jordandahl Farm, Scotch Hill Farm, Dreamfarm, Heartland Mills, Wholesome Sweeteners, Florida Crystals and Sugar River Dairy, Circle M Farm, Shady Blue Acres, Grassroots Farm, among many others.
We are graced by the kindred spirits at New Society Publishers, especially Chris and Judith Plant, Ingrid Witvoet and the rest of the talented crew there. We are changing the world, one kilowatt, light-bulb and potato pancake at a time.
We recognize a few of the many people who have influenced our culinary and life journey, not least of which are our parents, Aelita and Valdek Kivirist, Susan Ivanko and especially our own son, Liam Ivanko Kivirist. Deep appreciation goes out to our local mentors, Phil and Judy Welty (a Kitchen Table Talk feature in this book), and global mentors, Jack Matson and Elizabeth Goreham. Special thanks, too, to organic dairy farmers Rick and Mary Stanek, Mimi Tilmanis, Leslie Van Gelder, Chris Barth, Matt Urban, the Zettles, the Burkhalters, the Colemans, the Engelberts, Joy and Delbert Rohde, Steve and Deb Schroeck and Karl and Nadine Schmidt, Chris Sandvig, John and Mary Frantz, Karen and Dave Yaney, Kara Belew, Adria Goodson, Jenni Taylor, Cheryl Toth, Marshall King, Bethany Swope and Jen and Scott Lynch. Our growing fields would not be what they are today, were it not for the “management interns” over the years with our Cooperative Enterprise Program with the Michael Fields Agriculture Institute; they include Amy Kremen, Dave Stanger, Kristen Vetterlein, Janet Kruse and Andrea Weimer.
For our Kitchen Table Talks with local farmstead visionaries and global food game-changers featured in the pages of this book, you helped us express a new food story of abundance, ecological restoration, nourishment and health. Thanks to Todd and Jordan Champagne, Roger Doiron, Severine von Tscharmer Fleming, Jai and Joel Kellum, Beth and Jody Osmund, Bryant Terry, Nancy Vail and Jered Lawson, Poppy Tooker and Jonathan Fagan (for sharing his soup recipe). And if we’re ever lost in the woods or urban jungle, we’d be in good hands with wild food foragers Georgia Pelligrini, Sam Thayer and Cindy Rosen. We’re also grateful for the early discussions regarding the ideas for this book provided by Kristina Holmes, for the masterful design of our farm steadchef.com website by Ann Foley Design, and for the book trailer created by Shouting Mountain (Taldish Castle) with the original music by Giovanni Paris (Giovanni-Paris.com).
Lisa thanks her amazing network of women working to transform our food system: Liz Johnson (The White House Project), Leigh Adcock and Denise O’Brien (Women, Food & Agriculture Network), Erin Schneider, Katie Peterman, Aimee Witteman, Sue Roberts, Rose Hayden-Smith, Angie Tagtow, Melinda Hemmelgarn, Alissa Hamilton, Margaret Krome, Martha Davis Kipcak, Gini Knight, the Green County Women in Sustainable Agriculture Cocktail Club and Stateline Homeschoolers.
Our local tribe of kindred spirits gifts us deep friendships and perpetual potlucks — and soup nights. Thanks to some amazing families: Vestin, Krieger, Carus, Giaimo, Carper, Lynch, Bubenzer, Endres, Stern-Hickey and Smith. Thanks, too, to our tribe of families spread far and wide, many of whom opened their kitchens as test kitchens for this cookbook: Meister-Sylvester, Rue-Scholin, Cohen, Ambo, Abatangelo, Lilly and Morrison-Sang.
Finally, our culinary enterprise would not have thrived had it not been for the never-ending arrival of hungry guests appearing at the back door of our Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast. We can’t wait to whip up something new in the kitchen, just for you.
Savoring the Good Life,
Lisa Kivirist and John D. Ivanko