About Real Time Farms

For Consumers

RealTimeFarms.com is a crowd-sourced nationwide food guide. We enable you to trace your food back to the farm it came from, whether staying in or dining out, so you can find food you feel good about eating. farming leaves icon Help Grow the Guide!

For Restaurants

Restaurants can manage & publish their menus across multiple platforms & connect consumers, on a per ingredient basis, to the images, stories, & growing practices of each producer. eatery icon Share Your Menu's Story!

We love feedback! feedback@realtimefarms.com or online.

Core Team

Karl

Karl Rosaen, Co-Founder Karl grew up in Ann Arbor, received his B.S. and M.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, then joined Google in Mountain View where he worked on AdWords and was part of the team that launched the first Google Android phone in 2009. He worked at Google for 4 1/2 years before deciding to move back to Ann Arbor to start a company of his own. With his passion for health and good cooking, he launched Real Time Farms in Spring 2010 to help people understand where their food comes from. Food Loves Pulled pork cooked slow and low, eggs cooked most ways, roasted root vegetables (beets, carrots, parsnips, you name it!). Why did you start Real Time Farms? I wanted to create a dynamic, exciting, and information-rich way to connect consumers to fresh sources of food, and to make it easier to learn where there food is coming from. I believe that when people know more about where their food comes from, they are led naturally towards choices that are healthiest for themselves and the environment.
Cara

Cara Rosaen, Co-Founder, Director of Vegetable Outreach Cara grew up in Ann Arbor, where she caught the entrepreneurial bug as an elementary student, running a kids camp, Kids Korner, during the summers with her best friend out of the her parent's garage. She received her B.A. in Holistic and Atomistic Approaches to Health from the University of Michigan. She went to graduate school for a few years in Marital and Family Therapy at Santa Clara University to be a psychotherapist, but quickly found her heart resided elsewhere. After working to build a wellness center start-up in Palo Alto, Cara started two companies of her own: an online used book selling business, and a nationwide jewelry business, Sweet Plum Vintage. Settled back in her hometown, she is ecstatic to be working with people she loves on something she hopes will change the way people eat. Cara blogs for The Huffington Post and currently serves on the Education and Outreach Committee for Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP). Food LovesBrussel sprouts, plums right off the tree, all things chocolate. If you're skeptical about brussel sprouts, try roasting them yumm... Why did you want to work with Real Time Farms? I want people to have the tools and access to information on the food they consume. It's a right of everyone's and a whole lot of fun, when you get to know the stories behind the food you eat!
Lindsay-Jean

Lindsay-Jean Hard, Gastronomic Guru - Blog & Operations Lindsay-Jean is a devoted Michigander, despite detesting cold weather and snow. She hails from Grand Rapids, but considers Ann Arbor home, especially after earning both her BA (Organizational Studies) and her MA (Urban Planning) from the University of Michigan. She realized the need for food transparency during two fantastic years in Japan, where it was challenging to figure out where that giant daikon radish was coming from. When she's not working on Real Time Farms you might find her whipping up a vegetarian dish in the kitchen, scouring recipes for future inspiration, jogging with her husband and their adorable pooch, smothering her daughter in kisses, or getting lost in a good book. Lindsay-Jean currently serves on the Ann Arbor Public Market Advisory Commission. Food LovesHomemade pizza, and it makes an appearance in her kitchen once a week in never-ending variations, but she thinks you can't go wrong with Smitten Kitchen's Grilled Eggplant and Green Olive Pizza Why did you want to work with Real Time Farms? I am passionate about healthy food and think walking through farmers markets and grocery stores is a great leisure activity. I believe in the need for a better food system in our country, and think that connecting people to local sources of tasty fruits and veggies is the perfect way to start making a change.
Corinna

Corinna Borden, Captain of Comestibles - Outreach Drawing on a varied background from studying medieval literature at Cambridge - to advancing local horticulture at the Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha's Vineyard - to managing the baking school of the Zingerman's Bakehouse and subsequently the Westside Farmers' Market in Ann Arbor, Corinna Borden revels in food as the universal umbrella of existence. Her experiences as a young cancer survivor and of living and working in six countries on four different continents while traveling to numerous others give Corinna a global and spiritual perspective on food, health, and society that informs her novel I Dreamt of Sausage and her work with Real Time Farms. Corinna is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Cambridge, England. Food LovesSpinach harvested in February out of a hoop house (when the sugar is high in the leaves), claytonia, beets, kale chips, dried apples, bean thread noodles, anything eaten with chopsticks, popcorn, and garlic! Why did you want to work with Real Time Farms? Consumers are entitled to know what we are eatingwhere it came from, how it was grown, how far it traveled. Without food transparency our right to make responsible choices is taken from us. I met Karl and Cara when I was managing the Westside Farmers Market in early 2010 and I fell in love with Real Time Farms - because it ROCKS.
Lindsay P

Lindsay Partridge, Kernel Colonel - Food Warrior Program Lindsay grew up in Chicago, went to school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and has recently found herself settling down in Oakland, CA (at least for the time being). She loves traveling, acquainting herself with good people, and experiencing cultures through music and food. Food Loves Inspired by my Senegalese host mother and her simple-yet-intensely-flavorful one pot delicacies; I could also indulge in Indian, Ethiopian and Mexican cuisines pretty much any day of the week. Any home-cooked meal full of veggies is always good by me, too. Why did you want to work with Real Time Farms? I think that supporting the growth of local food systems is one of the best ways we can strengthen our communities, reduce our negative impact on the environment, and ensure that what we are putting in to our bodies (which are temples, don't you know?) is as fresh and nutritious as possible. Plus, food is just the best for so many reasons and I love that I get to think about it all the time.

Board of Advisors

Mark Ayzenshtat

Mark Ayzenshtat Mark is head of data products at Evernote. Previously, he co-founded TellApart, a predictive customer analytics company. TellApart helps e-commerce companies manage and harness the power of customer data to massively enhance their online marketing.

Earlier in his career, Mark was a Senior Software Engineer at Google, where he started and led several high profile projects including the Android Market, the AdWords API, and natural language processing improvements within the core Search Quality team. Today, the AdWords API is the world's largest commercial API and interacts with well over half of Google's total revenue; it went on to win the Executive Management Group award. Android later won the Founders' Award, Google's most prestigious project honor.
Christopher Elam

Christopher Elam Chris is executive director of Inform, which makes short videos that explore the environmental impact of everyday objects. He was co-creator and producer of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Robert Kenner's (Food Inc.) new social action project, Fix Food. Before that he was director of the Meatless Monday campaign. Completing his graduate work at Oxford University, Chris became a writer/producer at MTV where he created and produced the new music show Alternative Nation. From there he worked as a copywriter at J Walter Thompson while at the same founding ArtKrush, the art magazine online, which he eventually sold to Flavorpill.
Amanda Hesser

Amanda Hesser Amanda Hesser is an entrepreneur and best-selling author. She is a co-founder of Food52 and has been named one of the 50 most influential women in food by Gourmet. While at the New York Times, Hesser wrote more than 750 stories and was the food editor at the Times Magazine. She has written the award-winning books Cooking for Mr. Latte and The Cook and the Gardener, and edited the essay collection Eat, Memory. Her last book, a Times bestseller and the winner of a James Beard award, is The Essential New York Times Cookbook. Hesser is a trustee of Awesome Food and an advisor for the restaurant app Fondu.
(Photo credit: Sarah Shatz)
Stephanie Izard

Stephanie Izard Recently nominated for the "Best Chef: Great Lakes Area" Award by the James Beard Foundation and one of Food & Wine Best New Chefs of 2011, Stephanie Izard is the Executive Chef/Partner of the Chicago restaurant Girl & the Goat. Stephanie is currently busy planning for the opening of her next Chicago restaurant, Little Goat, which is scheduled to open Summer 2012.

A 2011 James Beard 'Best New Restaurant' nominee, Girl & the Goat has been praised by many high-profile publications. Stephanie is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, and has worked in some of the most respected kitchens in Chicago including La Tache, Spring, and Vong.

She previously owned the highly acclaimed restaurant Scylla, which she sold just prior to appearing on and winning Season four of Bravo's "Top Chef." Izard's first book, Girl in the Kitchen, was released in the fall of 2011 (Chronicle). To learn more about Stephanie visit www.stephanieizard.com or follow her on Twitter @StephAndTheGoat.
Merrill Stubbs

Merrill Stubbs Merrill Stubbs has worked for over a decade in the food industry, as a private chef, cooking instructor and writer/editor. She has written for the New York Times' T Living, Edible Brooklyn, Body+Soul, and Culinate.com, among others, and she was the food editor at Herb Quarterly. She is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Food52.
Ari Weinzweig

Ari Weinzweig Ari Weinzweig is CEO and co-founding partner of Zingerman's Community of Businesses, which includes Zingerman's Delicatessen, Bakehouse, Creamery, Catering, Mail Order, ZingTrain, Coffee Company, Roadhouse and the newest business-Zingerman's Candy Manufactory. Zingerman's produces and sells all sorts of full flavored, traditional foods in its home of Ann Arbor, Michigan to the tune of $38,000,000 a year in annual sales. Ari was recognized as one of the "Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America" by the 2006 James Beard Foundation and has awarded a Bon Appetit Lifetime Achievement Award among many recognitions. Ari is the author of a number of articles and books, including "Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon" (Zingerman's Press), "Zingerman's Guide to Giving Great Service" (Hyperion), "Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating" (Houghton Mifflin), and "Zingerman's Guide to Good Leading, Part 1: A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Building a Great Business." His most recent book is "Zingerman's Guide to Good Leading, Part 2: A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Being a Better Leader."
(Photo credit: Benjamin Weatherston)
Paul Willis

Paul Willis Paul Willis, founder and manager of Niman Ranch Pork Company, is also the owner and operator of the Willis Free Range Pig Farm in Thornton, Iowa, where he still lives on the farm where he grew up and raises pigs on open pasture with his wife Phyllis and daughter, Sarah. For years he sold his hogs in the conventional market, before he met Bill Niman in 1994, when Paul and Bill discovered their shared dedication to sustainable farming and strict animal husbandry standards, and the belief that the humane treatment of animals results in better tasting meat. Willis and Niman formed a ground-breaking partnership in 1998 establishing the Niman Ranch Pork Company.

Paul has since been the subject of numerous feature-length articles in nationally acclaimed publications as well as books and even television shows including his recent appearance on the Martha Stewart Show where he discussed the importance of farm animal welfare and Global Animal Partnership. He continues his work on environmental and social sustainability issues as a member of the committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences, serves as a board member for Global Animal Partnership among numerous others in addition to his work as cofounder of Food Democracy Now -a grassroots community dedicated to building a sustainable food system that protects our natural environment, sustains farmers and nourishes families.

Sales Outreach Stewards

Charlotte

Charlotte Simpliciano Charlotte is certified California grown and California fed (most of the time). Her fresh food-crazed parents taught her to plant her first radishes as a kid in the Bay Area. Charlotte traveled down the coast to attend the University of California, Irvine, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Literary Journalism and a Minor in Global Cultures. Her obsession with good food and concern for local foodshed accessibility, paired with the aspiration to do good in the world led her to find Real Time Farms as a Food Warrior in 2011, and has been fighting since. She loves hiking and hot yoga, and swears by apple sauce and yogurt eaten side by side.
Gina

Gina Lorubbio Having grown up with a dad who gardens, a mom who loves experimenting in the kitchen, and that quintessential Italian grandmother, Gina developed a strong passion for food at a young age. Her interest in creativity led her to obtain a degree in Interior Design from the University of Cincinnati, but the voices in her head (the ones constantly talking about food) never quieted. So she decided to listen. She has worked with amazing businesses like Snowville Creamery and A Tavola Trattoria in Cincinnati, and has recently moved to Portland, Oregon to further her food explorations. Gina became a Real Time Farms Food Warrior intern in the fall of 2011, and the rest is history!
Merrily

Merrily Grashin Merrily Grashin grew up in Berkeley, California, where she would frequent farmers markets with her family. This is when she learned that when food is fresh, seasonal, and directly supporting the farmers and artisans who cultivate it, it tastes better. Concentrating in Community Activism and Radical Art, she received her B.A. from Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. Since the tender age of fifteen, Merrily has worked in restaurants and food service - a space where she can merge her passions for food, art, and community. Merrily sees Real Time Farms as a much needed bridge in communication between consumers and producers - the beginning to a more complete relationship with one's community through the food one consumes.
Nicole

Nicole Rossi After receiving degrees in English and Communications from Rochester College, Nicole spent six years working as a program director for the YMCA. She grew up in Michigan, spent a few years in Atlanta, and now resides in East Nashville. Her passion for food and community first collided when she started working for Nashville grocer, The Turnip Truck. In her spare time you will find her in the kitchen, sewing up a craft or maintaining her urban homestead. Real Time Farms is a refreshing and much needed tool and she is very excited to help spread the word and see how it takes off here in the south!
Katie

Katie Woods For the past few years, Katie has been floating coast to coast, leaving San Francisco to study at Emerson College in Boston. After graduating with a B.F.A. in Writing, Literature, and Publishing, she moved to Portland to follow her passions - writing and environmental conversation, especially concerning sustainable food. She has WWOOF-ed in Scotland, worked on a reforestation project in Haiti, and worked as a intern on Corporate Accountability International's Value [the] Meal Campaign, and, of course, with the Real Time Farm Food Warriors. In Portland, she spends a lot of time taking advantage of the rich local food culture and wide variety of vegan treats. Katie loves stories, and "Real Time Farms is all about the tale behind the kale!"
Lee

Lee Carella A former food warrior, Lee's eye for detail stems from her microbiology background and follows her into the kitchen. A backyard gardener, a midnight baker, and an extreme cheese lover are ways to best describe this food enthusiast. Weekdays you can find her in the UGA food microbiology lab ridding the world of foodborne illness. But when she's not studying, she's usually perched in the cookbook aisle of the library or outside kicking soccer balls for her dog Daisy.
Elizabeth

Elizabeth Murray Elizabeth is a food scholar turned consumer advocate. She is currently a Master's student of Applied Anthropology at the University of South Florida, studying the interaction between social and food systems. She focuses on the differences between what people know about food and how they buy it, and promotes food transparency with her research. As a Food Warrior in 2012, she combined her work in food studies with her desire to be an engaged citizen in the food community. She strives to empower consumers so they might make free, educated food choices in their daily lives.