Tuesday, April 7th from 5:30–7 PM at the Ag Hall
Join us for a panel with James Beard Award winner Nancy Matsumoto and local female farmers and food system workers! This panel will feature Alexis Moreis of the Chappaquiddick Wampanoag Tribe, Caroline Pam of Island Grown Initiative, Emma Green-Beach of MV Shellfish Group, and Chef Ting of Black Joy Kitchen.
Nancy Matsumoto is a freelance writer and editor. Her latest book, Reaping What She Sows: How Women Are Rebuilding Our Broken Food Systemtells the story of women at the forefront of food system change. She is also the co-author of the James Beard award-winning Exploring the World of Japanese Craft Sake. Her book By the Shore of Lake Michigan, a translation of a volume of Japanese tanka poetry published by her grandparents, was awarded an American Book Award in 2025. Nancy’s Substack publication “Reaping” continues to tell stories of the people, institutions, and businesses leading ecosystems regeneration.
Alexis Moreis is a Wôpanâak conservationist, raised on Nôepe. She is a Tribal Council Member & THPO for the Wampanoag Tribe of Chappaquiddick. Alexis is a founding member of Pôhshutupuhk8 Midnight Land Collective, a conservation collaborative lead by Aquinnah and Chappaquiddick Wampanoag Island residents. Her work focuses on land rematriation legislation, environmental justice & health equity, and Indigenous sustenance rights. You can find Alexis leading the development of a Chappaquiddick Wampanoag Cultural Center & Pôhshutupuhk8 Farm. Learn more at chappaquiddickwampanoagtribe.org& midnightland.org.
Caroline Pam co-owned and operated Kitchen Garden Farm with her husband in Sunderland, MA. Over 18 years, she grew the business from 1 acre to 65 acres and launched an award-winning line of value-added products, including sriracha, salsa, and dried chilies. After selling the farm to two longtime employees in 2024, Caroline moved to Martha's Vineyard and is now co-executive director of Island Grown Initiative, a nonprofit working to strengthen the island food system through regenerative farming, food access, and farm to school programs.
Emma Green-Beach is the Executive Director & Shellfish Biologist of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Inc. She holds a Master’s degree in Ecology & Evolution from Rutgers University and has nearly 20 years of experience in marine science, shellfish hatchery production, and community-based aquaculture development. She believes deeply in the ability of shellfish to connect people to their environment, food, economy and each other. When Emma is not growing shellfish seed and writing grant proposals, she is knitting, gardening, or wandering down the beach with her family.
Chef Ting cooked for her first dinner party at age 7 when she invited all of her 2nd-grade teachers to dinner (without telling her mother). She grew up in a community rich in food culture and went on to travel to almost every corner of the world, seeking to learn the best-loved dishes from grandmothers in villages far and wide. She is at 68 countries and counting. She brings this food expertise into a fine dining experience, informed by her time spent in diplomatic kitchens, fast-casual concepts, village eateries, ocean-to-table restaurants, vegetarian emporiums, and bespoke food experiences. Chef Ting believes that her best food tells the story of the Black Diaspora and the way that the food of melanated people has influenced food in so many places, starting with African royalty sourcing spices along the Silk Road in 560 B.C. and traveling with enslaved Africans as we moved from the continent to South America, the Caribbean, and then the American South. She is committed to creating food that invigorates the body and the soul. Chef Ting infuses her food journeys with the critical health benefits from her early career in medicine and the innovation and process from her years running a corporate strategy firm. She now pursues her true passion: engaging all the senses of fellow humans by cooking stories that resonate inside of each one of us.
Event is co-sponsored by the Ag Society and Slough Farm.
COST: FREE and open to all, registration helpful. Sign up below!