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Anya Fernald

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Anya Fernald
Fernald at Belcampo Farms, 2019
Born
Germany
NationalityAmerican
Alma materWesleyan University
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur and business consultant
Years active2000–present
Spouse
Renato Sardo
​
(m. 2004⁠–⁠2012)​
Children2

Anya Fernald (born 1975)[1] is an American entrepreneur, chef, and sustainable agriculture expert based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She founded Live Culture Co., a business and marketing consulting company, the Eat Real Festival Company, and Belcampo Meat Co., a producer of sustainably sourced meats headquartered in Oakland, California, of which she was founding CEO. She has published a cookbook and appeared as a judge on the Food Network's Iron Chef America, Iron Chef Gauntlet, and The Next Iron Chef.

Early life and education

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Fernald was born on a raw-milk dairy farm outside Munich, Germany, while her parents were teaching and researching abroad. When she was 3 years old, her family moved back to the United States, eventually settling in Palo Alto, California, and then Oregon.[2] After graduating from Wesleyan University with a degree in political science,[3] she received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, leading to work as an itinerant cheesemaker in Europe and North Africa.[2]

Career

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Europe (1999–2005)

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From 1999 to 2001, Fernald developed and implemented business and marketing plans for small-scale cheese makers in Sicily for rural development initiative funded by the European Union, CoRFiLaC. She subsequently directed the International Presidia program at Slow Food in Bra, Italy, where until 2005 she devised and instigated an international micro-investment program that managed business planning and marketing for small-scale artisan food producers in countries such as Madagascar, Sweden, Ecuador and Bosnia.[4][5]

United States (2006–present)

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Soon after returning to California in 2006, Fernald founded a produce distribution company connecting high-quality farmers to large institutional buyers, which was later acquired. In 2008 she began working with Alice Waters as executive director of Slow Food Nation to organize and direct a large event to raise the profile of high-quality organic food.[2][6][7]

In 2009, Fernald founded the Eat Real Festival Company, which produces an annual, two-day food festival in Oakland, California. This company was acquired in 2015. The festival focuses on food and drinks produced locally, sustainably and organically.[3][8]

Also in 2009, Fernald founded Live Culture Co., a business and marketing consulting firm.[2][5][9] In 2010, the company began working with Todd Robinson to develop a concept to market products from a ranch he owned in Northern California. This consulting engagement resulted in the development of Belcampo, which Fernald and Robinson founded in 2012. Fernald and Robinson also collaborated on a project in Belize, which later became Copal Tree Farms and Lodge.

Belcampo

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Under Fernald's watch as CEO, Belcampo was the subject of some controversies. The USDA had begun federal investigations into Belcampo for various violations, including sanitation, safety, and labeling at their Siskiyou County plant, leading up to its closure in 2021.[10] Inspections revealed poor hygiene, mislabeled meat, and operational failures.[11] A wage theft lawsuit in 2020 was brought by an employee named Maria Celina Perez Aguilera on behalf of herself and other employees. The suit alleged a variety of labor and wage theft violations, including failure to pay workers minimum wage, failure to pay overtime wages, and failure by the company to adequately allow for employee meal breaks. Belcampo agreed to pay $750,000 as part of a legal settlement that does not admit any wrongdoing on behalf of the company.[12] Fernald was CEO until August 2020, when Garry Embleton became co-CEO.[13] The company closed in October 2021 after a former butcher Evan Reiner reported that it had fraudulently labeled cuts of meat as produced by Belcampo when they had been sourced from other producers.[14][15]

Television

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Fernald began working as a judge and sustainable food expert on the Food Network's Iron Chef America franchise in 2009, and continued to appear regularly until 2015.[5] She has also appeared on CBS This Morning.[16]

Publications

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In spring 2016, Fernald released her debut cookbook, Home Cooked: Essential Recipes for a New Way to Cook, with Ten Speed Press.[17][18][19]

Honors

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In 2010, Fernald was named one of 40 Big Food Thinkers 40 and Under by Food & Wine magazine,[20] one of the top 100 female founders in INC Magazine,[21] and one of The New York Times' Nifty 50, recognizing America's up-and-coming talent.[9]

Personal life

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Fernald was married to Renato Sardo, former head of Slow Food International;[7][22] as of 2009, they lived in Oakland.[23] The couple had a daughter, but as of 2014 had separated.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Dana Goodyear (November 3, 2014). "Élite Meat". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Tara Duggan, "Anya Fernald brings sustainable food to masses", San Francisco Chronicle, May 30, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Emily Kaiser Thelin, "The Locavore Empire of Anya Fernald" (archived), Food & Wine, January 2013.
  4. ^ Josh Sens, "Anya Fernald's Empire of Meat", San Francisco, March 26, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Anya Fernald". Food Network. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  6. ^ Carol Ness, "Chez Kaiser's food revolution / Hospital experiment putting locally grown produce on patients' plates", San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 2006.
  7. ^ a b Richard Bradley (February–March 2013). "Fields of Green". Worth. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  8. ^ Renée Frojo, "Anya Fernald brings fresh food to Oakland", San Francisco Business Times, September 17, 2012.
  9. ^ a b Christine Muhlke, "The Nifty 50: Anya Fernald, Food Consultant", The New York Times Magazine, January 12, 2010.
  10. ^ "Belcampo Meat Co. faced USDA investigation over sanitation and labeling issues". San Francisco Chronicle. December 7, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  11. ^ "Noncompliance Reports in Response to FOIA2018-328" (PDF). U.S. Department of Agriculture. May 29, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  12. ^ Kang, Matthew (June 2, 2021). "Belcampo's Meat Mislabeling Deception Is Not an "Isolated Incident"". Eater LA.
  13. ^ "Belcampo Appoints Garry Embleton as New Co-CEO to Lead Supply Chain and eCommerce Growth". Refrigerated & Frozen Foods. August 14, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  14. ^ Susana Guerrero (October 19, 2021). "Bay Area-based Belcampo closes its restaurants, ends retail operations amid scandal". SFGate. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  15. ^ Breijo, Stephanie (October 20, 2021). "After sourcing scandal, Belcampo Meat Co. abruptly closes stores, restaurants". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  16. ^ "The Dish: Chef Anya Fernald Shares Her Signature Recipes" (video). CBS. Retrieved February 11, 2020.[dead link‍]
  17. ^ "Books: Home Cooked by Anya Fernald, Jessica Battilana: 9781607748403". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  18. ^ "'Home Cooked: Essential Recipes for a New Way to Cook,' by Anya Fernald with Jessica Battilana". Los Angeles Times. April 29, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  19. ^ "The Case for Cooking with Lesser Cuts of Meat". Food52. April 18, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  20. ^ "Anya Fernald: Slow-Food Activist", Food & Wine, November 2010.
  21. ^ "How These 17 Female Founders Built Brands That Started Movements". Inc.com. October 4, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  22. ^ Carol Ness (March 15, 2006). "Down to a Science: Renato Sardo". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  23. ^ Christine Muhlke (July 1, 2009). "Home Sweet (Urban) Homestead". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
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