Vermont Fresh Network Announces a New Executive Director

Dr. Amy B. Trubek (FASP Fellow)  has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the Vermont Fresh Network, a non-profit organization that builds innovative partnerships among Vermont farmers, chefs, and consumers to strengthen Vermont’s working landscape.

Dr. Trubek is the recipient of a Food and Society Policy Fellowship for 2002-2004, a national fellowship that supports efforts to promote communications about sustainable agriculture and local food systems. Administered by the Jefferson Institute, the fellowship is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  “Many of us at Vermont Fresh Network first became acquainted with Amy as she studied the VFN – past, present, and future – as part of her Food and Society Policy fellowship. Amy impressed us then as thoughtful, organized, visionary, and committed to building a stronger local food system in Vermont,” says VFN president-elect Robin Schempp.

Amy taught at New England Culinary Institute for eight years. She coordinated the Institute’s Critical Thinking program and created curriculum for culinary students at all levels addressing the global food system. She also helped organize their Continuing Education program. Currently, Amy teaches courses at University of Vermont where she previously served on the planning committee for the 2003 Aiken Lecture series, “Who Chooses the Food You Eat.”  Amy holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and has completed formal culinary training at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School.

Amy has published numerous articles on food, culture, and local food systems in Boston Globe, Burlington Free Press, Gastronomica, The Art of Eating, and Expedition Magazine. She is also the author of Haute Cuisine: How the French Invented the Culinary Profession (University of Pennsylvania Press).

“I can’t imagine an individual better suited to take on the leadership of the VFN. Her profound commitment to local food systems and her organizational experience will be great assets to our organization,” says board member Molly Stevens. Amy will work closely with Meghan Sheradin, the Regional Coordinator, and together they will be developing and managing the organization.