LONG TABLE HARVEST - Key Persons
Aravah Berman-Mirkin, is the director of Long Table Harvest. Contact Aravah about gleaning from your farm, distributing to your site, donations, and for most questions about the organization.
Claudia grew up in and around the Hudson Valley, returning at the start of 2013 to grow medicinal herbs on a small scale and with a vision to provide economically accessible herbal learning opportunities as well as fresh medicinal plants to the community. Having farmed and organized for over 10 years around issues of Food and Social Justice, Localized Resource Resilience and Food Security, Claudia has always and increasingly marveled at the capacity of individuals to produce and contribute to a collective abundance of food and medicine. She is propelled and inspired by the dynamism of the food system and the ways it can be improved to better support farmers and provide more families with fresh, accessible and nutrient-rich food.
Job Titles:
- Webmaster and Designer for Gleanweb. Contact Dick about Problems With Web Pages or about Name Changes
Dick Yates, Webmaster and designer for Gleanweb. Contact Dick about problems with web pages or about name changes.
Joan is the Project Director of the Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood (GHPN) in Hudson, NY. The GHPN, a placed-based, cradle to career initiative modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone, aims to break the intergenerational cycles of poverty and build strong, vibrant communities. In 2011, Joan received her MSW from Hunter College in Community Organizing, Planning and Development and received her undergraduate degree from New York University, double majoring in Social Work and Africana Studies. As Project Director of the Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood, Joan has successfully built partnerships with community-based organizations, schools, elected officials, County agencies, municipalities, business, youth,families and more to address unmet needs in the Hudson community. Most recently, Joan and her team launched the Greater Hudson Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents (GHICIP), a partner in Osborne's NY Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents. Joan is also an Adjunct Professor at Siena College and teaches at Greene Correctional Facility through Hudson Link.
Laura moved to the Hudson Valley in 2014, after running a successful gleaning program in Washington State. In Hudson, Laura worked with children and families conducting farm and garden education through Hudson PROMISE Corps and also coordinated efforts at the River City Garden, Hudson's multicultural and intergenerational community garden on Front Street. Laura worked with Aravah to launch Long Table Harvest before moving to Denver to pursue a Masters in Social Work. She currently serves as Support Services Coordinator at cityWILD, a nonprofit in Denver that engages youth in experiential learning opportunities to address issues of inequity in education, economic opportunity, and access to the outdoors. Laura is pursuing a certificate in horticultural therapy and believes wholeheartedly in the healing power of digging in the dirt.
Job Titles:
- Gleaning Coordinator, She / Her
Leigha is originally from Eaton, NY, and comes from a long line of farmers in Madison County. She grew up canning food, picking rock, and learning about plants and old tales from her elders. Over the last few years, she's worked with non-profits and startups on the East and West Coast. During this time she helped organizations to better craft their creative branding, community outreach, and volunteer programs. This is Leigh's third season with Long Table Harvest, and she has expanded Long Table's offerings via our Community Shares Program and Seedling Distribution. She delivered seedlings to four counties this season in Columbia, Dutchess, Ulster, and Greene. Leigha is all for soaking up the sun and sharing the wealth. She is especially grateful these days for creekside hangs, big laughs, and sweet fruit.
Heylan Tsumagari - Gleaning Coordinator, she/her
Heylan grew up in Red Hook, New York and left to study at Brooklyn College where she majored in medical anthropology. It is there where she harbored her passions for women's health and food justice. Heylan interned with the non-profit Just Food and apprenticed at Hawthorne Valley Farm, with their dairy herd and vegetable operation. She is truly looking forward to the good work and long days that summer brings. A couple of things Heylan is wholeheartedly grateful for: self-canned food in the winter, dried flowers, medicinal herbs, cicadas, swimming in waterfalls, sharing meals with people, and the sun!
Pamela is best known as the matriarch of the Badila clan, renowned for their family based production company, Diata Data International Folkloric Theatre, which she cofounded with husband Elombe. She now serves on the programming committee for the Hudson Area Library.
Job Titles:
- Gleaning Coordinator, She / Her
Sarah is a community organizer focused on building sustainable systems to address the challenges of food insecurity. Since moving to the Hudson Valley in 2014, she's run her own small business, Tin Can Juicery, farmed at Common Hands in Philmont and served as Rural Access Coordinator and Buyer at Hudson's Rolling Grocer 19. Her latest project, the Athens Community Farm, is a volunteer-run micro farm providing a seasonal u-pick garden along with distribution of local produce in Greene County. Previous experience in technology and finance provide a comprehensive perspective for Sarah's current work, although she's much happier that she now gets to spend her days surrounded by veggies, mud and beautiful mountains.