About us
There are six of us organizing the Miami River Foods project during its initial stage, but our first job is to get you signed up to help! Please contact us for more information or to see how you can get involved.
You can also read more about us below.
Laura Hanson, Organizer
Laura is a Tippecanoe High School graduate with family roots in Miami County and cooperative development experience in the US and Africa.
I grew up with farmer's markets, pick-your-own, and fishing. Sweet corn meant family gatherings in Ohio, and sugar snap peas still bring me back to summers with my grandparents in Minnesota. Food was family. It was place. It was the ceremonies of life. Not until college, however, did food began to fascinate the academic and activist in me.
Along with a group of students and community members, I became a Founding Board Member of the Daily Market Cooperative in Walla Walla, Washington. Our mission was to create a local catalyst to change our food system, a little at a time. I learned a lot along the way -- important community organizing skills like how to write a business plan, facilitate a community meeting, and fundraise. And some everyday skills, too, like how to pick apples and get to know my neighbors.
I'm now returning home after some time with another community project in Rwanda, where I developed a cooperative management and business skills training program with a local nonprofit called Rwanda Knits. The low-income and vulnerable members of the project's knitting cooperatives taught me a host of other important lessons, many of which also have to do with local economies and community support networks. They believe that sharing resources, sharing children, and sharing responsibility is the only way for their country to heal. As a result, Rwanda has the fastest-growing economy in Sub-Saharan Africa -- and some Rwanda Knits cooperative members have increased their incomes by 100% since I joined the project two years ago.
I see a lot of potential in Miami County. When I came to visit my family last fall, I found an abundance of fertile land, a rich agricultural heritage, and community members who want to strengthen our local food system. Changing the globalized food system a little at a time could mean big local progress.
Doug and Shauna Jackson, Organizers
Doug and Shauna Jackson were born and raised in Troy; Piper was added to their family in June. Shauna, the Communications Manager for Spinnaker Coating, a local manufacturing company, is also a member of Altrusa. Doug works in a management position at Riverside and is a Troy Ambassador and a chairman for the Leadership Troy Program. Both are members of Grace Baptist Church and were part of the initial Circles program coordinated through Partners in Hope.
Shauna grew up in a house where we ate at home every night; we were a meat and potatoes family...delicious homecooked meals, but no emphasis on local foods. The closest my sister and I got to locavoreism was the pick-your-own strawberry patch at Fultons, a yearly trek led by our Grandparents and Great Aunts. My exposure to great food came from working at the Coldwater Cafe in Tipp City for over 6 years as a server; my appreciation for great food has been heightened by weekly openings of the Happy Box; and my new passion for great food has come from the instigation of this local foods project.
Doug gained my desire for fresh food when my body craved it while spending 8 months backpacking the Appalachian Trail. My body knew what it needed, and I was craving foods that were not available in the backpacker’s fare. Towns along the 2,200 mile path offered the local food of that area and it satisfied like no water-constituted meal could. Troy is very important to our family and being a part of bringing this benefit to the community is an amazing opportunity.
Laurie Winans Reiser, Organizer
Laurie is a Piqua native and returned to the area after 14 years in Columbus and Dayton, where she worked for Xerox and NCR in Sales and Marketing. She and her husband own and operate Winans Fine Chocolates and Coffees, which is in its 5th generation of family operation.
I remember, as a kid, my grandfather would stop by on summer afternoons to bring fresh corn and melons from Fulton’s for our family’s dinner. My mom was a home economist major in college and she taught me the importance of a well rounded, colorful, evening family meal. I continue that evening meal tradition with my family and now know that the food was just one part of what was really important about that evening gathering!
I was attracted to nutrition courses while in college, but all those years ago, I knew of nothing I could do with that type of major other than work in a hospital and I didn’t see a connection between hospital meals and what I felt was healthy nutrition. So, my career took a high tech path for many years.
My passion for nutrition did not fade and last year I attended classes, over a 10 month period, in NYC, where I was certified as a Holistic Health Counselor by Columbia’s Teacher’s College. I learned from the foremost nutritional experts in the country (even Dr. Oz) about all aspects of health and well-being of which whole, local, organic foods can play a major role. I made friends with other students from around the world and realized other countries are way ahead of us in their focus on CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) and on healthy, local foods and the preventative role these foods can play in our individual health and well being.
After meeting Laura and Jake and hearing their ideas for making healthy, local food more available to our community, I said, “sign me up and my husband and kids too!”
Chris Tatarian, Treasurer
Chris, a native of California, moved to Troy with his wife Linda in 2000. Their hobbies revolve around music and good food! With ethnic backgrounds of German, Swedish, Italian and Armenian, they believe that they have inherited the best of all possible food backgrounds! Having both been raised on farms (Chris in California and Linda in Minnesota) they understand and appreciate the importance of local foods.
They started a cottage foods business (Rum River Food Arts) in 2008 that produces artisan breads, specialty cakes and various gourmet preserves. Their gourmet appetizers have been featured at the Brukner Nature Center’s annual fundraiser event for the last several years.
When they’re not playing in the kitchen, they provide musical entertainment playing American acoustic music in two local bands, the Rum River Blend and the True Life Travelers.
Chris earned a BSEE and an MBA from the University of California. His career has included a variety of technical and managerial positions. He has worked with large publicly owned companies as well as small family operations and start-ups in several different industries.
“Linda and I are excited to be a part of the Miami River Foods Project and look forward to being involved in the process of making good locally produced foods more accessible to the people of Troy!”
Jake Schlachter, Organizer
Jake is a Troy native who moved back home in 2008 after spending ten years exploring. He became interested in food very early on, although his taste has matured considerably since his first years. He cites the absence of Fulton Farms as one of his main reasons for moving back to Troy from Los Angeles.
Jake traded in a career in software (and his financial security) to follow his parents down the road of community organizing. He's still wondering about that, but he's happier improving communities than computers. His campaign last year brought together hundreds of passionate volunteers from across Miami County, and he's looking forward to working with many of them again on a new project.
When not organizing on his own, Jake consults on communication and outreach strategies for other local organizations and worthy interests.