The Farm Team
Our team is the heart and soul of our farm-business. We believe that for us to create a truly sustainable, long term collective that will nurture this land and community for generations to come, we have to rethink how we can collaboratively work and manage it together. This means that growing as farmers and educators, making decisions, learning, celebrating success and persisting through challenges together is at the core of our path towards creating a thriving, multi-generational farm-business on this land.
Our Farm Team is an incredible group of collaborators, educators, farmers, and innovators. Some of our partners/spouses also work on the farm, while others come in as contributors at decision making meetings, as we believe that to build a long-term, committed team we must care for the whole lives of our people and actively pursue building clear roles for our farm team spouses and partners. We hope to grow slowly and intentionally from within as our farm and associated businesses can support.
Farm Ownership
Corie is the owner of Bread & Butter Farm and wears all hats on the farm. When she began farming as a 14 year old in NH, she almost instantly envisioned a program like Village School. She felt like farming and learning about how nature and growing food intersect was one of the most important things we could learn as humans, and how to do it respectfully, while protecting the earth we live on, was something all kids should learn - and have fun doing it! Corie has worked to build a farm that includes people of all ages to learn, teach, and engage in how we steward this beautiful land and grow and raise delicious, healthy food. She is thrilled to have kiddos come to Village School to deepen their connection to this land and to the people who live and work here and invite them into this community!
Musician and early childhood educator Chris Dorman is also Vermont PBS’s Mister Chris, a delightful farmer and performer who makes wishes and leads children on adventures to learn more about how wishes might come true. Along the way, he meets up with friends and finds clues that help him to explore the topic at hand.
Corie Pierce (she/her)
Chris Dorman (he/him)
Markets
In 2015, Mike opened Blank Page Café, a small bakery and café located in the farm store at Bread and Butter Farm in Shelburne, VT. Blank Page Café focuses on using locally roasted, responsibly sourced coffee, and partners closely with Brio Coffeeworks in this work. Blank Page Café aims to provide an enriched on-farm experience for customers by emphasizing community and food-based education. Mike’s passion for coffee is borne of his passions for farming, performance-oriented nutrition, and helping his community more carefully examine the complexities of our food systems.
Before opening Blank Page Café, Mike spent nearly 3 years working in small-scale organic farming in California and Vermont, with a brief farming stint in Europe as a WWOOFer. Mike also holds a Bachelors degree in Finance from the University of Connecticut, is a Level 3 Chartered Financial Analyst candidate, and spent 9 years working as a Fixed Income Trader and Analyst at Cigna Investment Management. Mike spent time his time at Cigna managing portfolios, developing trading strategies, executing trades, building credit analysis models and ensuring all investment activity remained in compliance with mandates. Mike was born and raised in Connecticut but is proud to now call Vermont his forever home. Mike loves being physically active and tries to get into the mountains with his dog and partner as often as he can.
I grew up just down the road in Hinesburg, VT. I truly value family, community, connecting with the outside world, and human wellness. I love working on the farm because I get to be involved in connecting our community to regenerative land practices and help bridge the gap between land health and human health. I strive to help create a world where humans and nature live together in a symbiotic relationship. In my free time you can usually find me hiking in the mountains with my family (Bekah, Havi, and Nynah), rock climbing, trail running through the woods, and playing video games.
My name is Bekah. I am a first generation Jewish American on my Ukrainian mother's side and French Canadian from my father’s side. I am passionate about walking a life path that reconnects me and my descendents to our innate belongingness to this earth with guidance from the present moment and my ancestors. I enjoy cultivating this through practicing old traditions, training my body, breath, and mind, through herbal medicine, telling stories, singing songs, dancing, coaching, and in ceremony. I feel so grateful to be a mama, farmer, student, educator, steward, and resident here at Bread and Butter Farm.
Mike Proia (he/him)
Eric Seaton (he/him)
Bekah Gordon (she/her)
I grew up here in Vermont, and was a fan of Bread & Butter Farm and Blank Page Cafe for many years before joining the team in late summer 2022. Outside of work, I study herbal medicine at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. I believe that the healing of people and the healing of the Earth are indivisible, and I love being a part of this community that does so much to support that mutual flourishing.
My name is Cayden, and I’ve lived in Vermont my whole life. I graduated from the University of Vermont with a major in Food Systems and a minor in Agroecology. Since joining the farm three years ago, I’ve deepened my understanding of agriculture, community, and food—and developed a new appreciation for my relationship with the land and all that it offers us.
What began as an internship for an agroecology course quickly turned into a job, and over time, has grown into a place that truly feels like home. I’m grateful to have worked in nearly every area of the farm, and I’ve found a special connection with both our education programs and our CSA community.
This past summer, I was involved with vegetable production and CSA. It’s been a powerful full-circle experience to participate in the entire process—from seeding, to harvest, to distributing food directly to our community.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to dive deeper into our Village School, Little Village, and homeschool program, while continuing to connect with our CSA members each week at pickups.
This farm holds such a special place in my heart, and I’m so happy to be here with our incredible team and community!
Emily Vinson (she/her)
Ally Leduc (she/her)
Cayden Shaw (she/her)
Mia Weyant (she/her)
Vegetables
I grew up among the beautiful lakes, gorges, and farms surrounding Ithaca, NY, before moving to Bar Harbor, ME to study human ecology at the College of the Atlantic. I find joy in working at the intersection of farming, land regeneration, and education with the vegetable team at Bread and Butter. When I am not growing food, I enjoy spending time by water, hiking, running, cooking copious amounts of food and sharing it, reading all kinds of books, and writing creative nonfiction.
Rayna Joyce (she/her)
Sam Sanders (she/her)
Animals/Land
Brandon Bless is our Land and Animal Manager working alongside our animal herds and plant communities to help regenerate our landscape and produce healthy nutritious food for our human community. Brandon is one of our education mentors and is most involved in our partnership with the UVM Farmer Training Program. As one of our Bread & Butter Farm business directors, he helps manage the finances and joins the team steering the BBF vision. He leads projects in agroforestry, ag infrastructure, land conservation, and farm community housing.
I am a Peculiar, MO native, I attribute my kindness to my Midwest upbringing. I moved to Vermont 15 years ago to work as a Farm Intern at VYCC and fell in love with the community and landscape of this amazing Green Mountain State.
I’ve been interested in food systems for most of my adult life. I’ve worked on farms and ranches in Mexico, South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Vermont and Wisconsin. I’ve fished Salmon commercially off Kodiak Island, AK and worked in two meat processing facilities. I enjoy working with cattle and working outside in all weather except freezing rain.
I believe it is possible to fix our broken food systems, rebuild our soils and feed our community healthful food all while providing a higher quality of life for all our small local producers.
Melissa (Mel) McNell (she/her)
Brandon Bless (he/him)
Education
Alex, our Village School manager, has been a part of Bread & Butter Farm in various capacities for several years - as a gardener, Burger Night staff, and Village School Mentor. Alex has taught in various settings including in the gardens at Rock Point School, as a rock climbing instructor, an apprentice ski guide, and as a mentor with Crow’s Path. Alex's gentle style puts all of us at ease. He is steady and strong and kind.
Ella is our Land/Education Liaison & Village School Mentor. On-farm they enjoy preserving & processing food and other seasonal materials, looking to the trees, learning from the pigs, practicing stewardship of place ~ honored to be alongside kids. She began mentoring with Village School in the Fall of 2018 after being connected to the farm through a UVM agroecology partnership. From instructing for Outward Bound, they bring heart & experience to community building and conflict resolution. With on-farm education and beyond, her heart-fire is sustained by wonder-driven learning and sharing good food. Practicing and studying agroforestry, Ella is participating in the Northeast Forest Farmers Coalition’s Mentorship Program. She believes deeply in the paradigm-shifting capabilities of community & land connection. Raised in the redwood forests and oak valleys of northern California, they now call the Green Mountains home.
Alex Gemme (he/him)
Ella Mighell (she/her/they/them)
My name is Cayden, and I’ve lived in Vermont my whole life. I graduated from the University of Vermont with a major in Food Systems and a minor in Agroecology. Since joining the farm three years ago, I’ve deepened my understanding of agriculture, community, and food—and developed a new appreciation for my relationship with the land and all that it offers us.
What began as an internship for an agroecology course quickly turned into a job, and over time, has grown into a place that truly feels like home. I’m grateful to have worked in nearly every area of the farm, and I’ve found a special connection with both our education programs and our CSA community.
This past summer, I was involved with vegetable production and CSA. It’s been a powerful full-circle experience to participate in the entire process—from seeding, to harvest, to distributing food directly to our community.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to dive deeper into our Village School, Little Village, and homeschool program, while continuing to connect with our CSA members each week at pickups.
This farm holds such a special place in my heart, and I’m so happy to be here with our incredible team and community!
Griffin is a new addition to the Bread and Butter farm team, recently coming from South Burlington High School where he worked as an Interventionist. Griffin originally came to Vermont to study Environmental Policy at Champlain College. After graduating he worked at the Winooski Valley Parks District doing conservation, trail restoration, and invasive species management. He also spent time at the North Branch Nature center in Montpelier as an Environmental Educator, which sparked his love for teaching outdoors. He brings joy, enthusiasm, and wonder wherever he goes and is always looking to learn more. Griffin has a deep love of people, food, travel, music, and all of the messy things that make us human.