Laura Elia Balcom is a freelance writer who also happens to love food and cooking. She has written and edited for numerous trade magazines within the agriculture industry, including American Fruit Grower and American Vegetable Grower. She currently writes for several advertising agencies and publishing companies in the Buffalo area. Laura lives in Youngstown, NY, with her husband. Learn more about her at http://www.theconstantwriter.com.

Brian Halweil is the author of Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket. He is the editor of Edible East End and publisher of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan.

Brian Kantz is an Amherst, NY-based writer and editor. After beginning his career as an agricultural journalist with Meister Media in Ohio, he became a stay-at-home dad and freelancer. His award-winning parenting column appears monthly in Western New York Family, Charlotte Parent, and the New York Post Group's Family Publications magazines. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines across the country, including the Christian Science Monitor and National Catholic Reporter. Brian's new book, Stay-at-Home Dad. Stay. Good Boy. is available at www.briankantz.com.

Kathleen Kellogg is a freelancer and gentlewoman farmer in Cattaraugus County who divides her time between writing, newsgathering and tending to her small enterprise, which she calls "Farming For Fun." She is a Master Forest Owner, beekeeper and grows non-certified organic vegetables. She also harvests what the land provides: wild fruits and edibles, hay and maple syrup.

Lauren Newkirk Maynard is a freelance writer who previously served as managing editor at Artvoice, Buffalo's oldest newsweekly. Her work has been published in Buffalo Spree magazine, Buffalo Rising magazine, Artvoice and online at Buffalo Buffet (http://www.buffalobuffet.wordpress.com/). When she's not obsessing about food, Lauren works as an editor and writer at the University at Buffalo. She is a proud member of Buffalo First, Slow Food Buffalo and the UB Environmental Task Force.

Holloway Ortman is a resident of the Elmwood Village who spends as much time as possible exploring the ins and outs of her neighborhood and the far reaches of the region. An urban planner with a history at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Ortman is an avid cook, amateur gardener, and newlywed who is trying to tie the parts of her life together with the written word. She writes about food at www.savoryandsweet.net and is currently working on a book on local food in Western New York for Buffalo Heritage Press.

Deborah Seeber is a freelance writer living in East Aurora.  She returned to the area recently after living in Southwest Florida for thirteen years, where she wrote for The Sarasota Herald Tribune, as well as other regional newspapers and magazines.  Although she specializes in food and wine, she has covered a variety of topics, from the Arts to boating.  She now lives in the house where she grew up and is resurrecting a large perennial and vegetable garden there, as well as working her plot at the Aurora Community Garden. 

Lynn Schwab is the market director and co-founder of the Farmers Market at the Williamsville Mill.  She has embraced the "buy local" lifestyle by bringing farmers, vineyards and food producers to her community. Gardening, cooking for friends and family and writing give her great pleasure.  She is also known as "Miss Lynn" to her students at Gateway-Longview school.  She lives in the Village of Williamsville with her husband Phil and has two grown children.