Anya Fernald (1975) is an American entrepreneur, chef, and sustainable agriculture expert based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. She founded Live Culture Co., a business and marketing consulting company, the

Eat Real Festival The Eat Real Festival is an annual celebration of food organized by Food Craft Institute, in Oakland, California. The festival focuses on non-GMO, antibiotic-free food, and locally produced drinks made in a Sustainable food system, sustainable and o ...

Company, and Belcampo Meat Co., a producer of sustainably sourced meats headquartered in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, of which she was founding CEO. She has published a cookbook and appeared as a judge on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

's ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...

, Iron Chef Gauntlet'', and ''

The Next Iron Chef ''The Next Iron Chef'' is a limited-run series on the Food Network that aired its fifth season in 2012. Each season is a stand-alone competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network program ''Iron ...

''.

Early life and education

Fernald was born on a raw-milk dairy farm outside

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, 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 Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

, and then Oregon.Tara Duggan
"Anya Fernald brings sustainable food to masses"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', May 30, 2010. After graduating from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

with a degree in political science,Emily Kaiser Thelin
"The Locavore Empire of Anya Fernald"
''

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and season ...

'', January 2013. she received a

Thomas J. Watson Fellowship The Thomas J. Watson Foundation is a charitable trust formed 1961 in honor of former chairman and CEO of IBM, Thomas J. Watson. The Foundation's stated vision is to empower students “to expand their vision, test and develop their potential, an ...

, leading to work as an itinerant cheesemaker in Europe and North Africa.

Career

Europe (1999–2005)

From 1999 to 2001, Fernald developed and implemented business and marketing plans for small-scale cheese makers in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

for rural development initiative funded by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, CoRFiLaC. She subsequently directed the International Presidia program at

Slow Food Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regi ...

Bra, Italy Bra (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cuneo in the northwest Italian region of Piedmont. It is situated southeast of Turin and northeast of Cuneo in the area known as Roero. Bra is the birthplace of the feminist philosopher Adri ...

, 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 Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

and

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

.Josh Sens
"Anya Fernald's Empire of Meat"
''

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

'', March 26, 2013.

United States (2006–present)

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 Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...

as executive director of

Slow Food Nation Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and reg ...

to organize and direct a large event to raise the profile of high-quality organic food. In 2009, Fernald founded the

Company, which produces an annual, two-day

food festival A food festival is a festival, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season. History Food ...

. This company was acquired in 2015. The festival focuses on food and drinks produced locally, sustainably and organically.Renée Frojo
"Anya Fernald brings fresh food to Oakland"
''

San Francisco Business Times American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

'', September 17, 2012. Also in 2009, Fernald founded Live Culture Co., a business and marketing consulting firm.Christine Muhlke
"The Nifty 50: Anya Fernald, Food Consultant"
''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'', January 12, 2010. 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 Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, which later became Copal Tree Farms and Lodge.

Belcampo

Fernald co-founded Belcampo Meat Co., an Oakland-based supplier of sustainably-sourced meat. The company operated a 20,000 square foot,

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

-approved multi-species slaughter facility designed by animal welfare expert

Temple Grandin Mary Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Gra ...

, and a nearby farm, and opened its first store in

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

in November 2012. It expanded to also include butcher shops and restaurants in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco, San Mateo, Oakland, and New York, and also sold meat through Erewhon Grocery Stores. Fernald was CEO until August 2020, when Garry Embleton became co-CEO. The company closed in October 2021 after a former butcher reported that it had sold cuts of meat from other producers, labeled as produced by Belcampo.

Television

Fernald began working as a judge and sustainable food expert on the

's ''

'' franchise in 2009, and continued to appear regularly until 2015. She has also appeared on ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...

''.

Publications

In spring 2016, Fernald released her debut cookbook, ''Home Cooked: Essential Recipes for a New Way to Cook'', with

Ten Speed Press Ten Speed Press is a publishing house founded in Berkeley, California in 1971 by Phil Wood. Ten Speed Press was bought by Random House in February 2009 and is now part of their Crown Publishing Group division. History Wood worked with Barnes & N ...

Honors

In 2010, Fernald was named one of 40 Big Food Thinkers 40 and Under by ''

'' magazine, one of the top 100 female founders in ''INC Magazine'', and one of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Nifty 50, recognizing America's up-and-coming talent.

Personal life

Fernald was married to Renato Sardo, former head of Slow Food International; , they lived in Oakland. The couple had a daughter, but had separated.

References

External links

Belcampo website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernald, Anya Living people American food writers Food Network chefs American television chefs American chief executives of food industry companies Women food writers American women chief executives American women chefs 21st-century American women 1975 births