​James Gray is at the helm as Central Oregon Locavore’s Marketplace Manager.  With over a decade of experience in Natural Foods and a passion for supporting good people and eating good produce, James is a dream come true. He loves to share recipe ideas and get creative with every day meals. This guy is also a total geek for Central Oregon plant ecology. If you bring up any type of wildflower in the area he will talk your ear off about it! Come into the market and meet James and the rest of our knowledgeable Locavore staff!

Originally from the countryside of Central Illinois, Katie grew up eating from the one acre organic garden where her mother raised the family’s vegetables. After attending college in Ohio, including a semester abroad in the UK, she moved to Bend to join her mother who was already living here and teaching at the college. Katie has now been in Bend for 14 years and enjoys gardening, cycling, good conversation, and sharing time with the love of her life.

Tracy is our newest teammember at Locavore, but she is not a new face to us. Tracy is also a vendor, and brings us those delightful little fungi that add umami to our food. She is Landfish Mushroom Farm. Tracy brings a unique perspective to the team as she can see things from the vendors point of view and that has been very beneficial to all. 

I’m very proud to be part of the team at COL helping to bring the community closer to their food, I have been a central Oregonian for 28 years and appreciate the culture and beauty of Bend. My experience has been in the grocery/pharmaceutical industry with an emphasis in organization and personal service,  I’m excited to finally be in a field that I’m passionate about. I have a deep passion for animals and enjoy photography and art. I hope to make a difference in serving each customer and expanding my knowledge so that I can share it with others.

I believe in cultivating a relationship with each of my clients so I can truly be your visual voice – your storyteller. …let’s talk over coffee.

“The Mothership”. The mother of all mothers. Some could say that Locavore is all her fault, as she is the one who raised the founder and daughter, Niki Timm-Branch, in a home abundant with local food, meat and dairy. And taught Niki to make things happen. Becky is also the fearless mother-hen (volunteer) Volunteer Coordinator who bravely commands our fleet of fabulous volunteers to help steer us to greatness. You need some mothering? Volunteer with us!

I have been a bookkeeper in the Bend area for over 25 years.  When I was approached by Hillary Smith, CPA about taking the job of working with the Locavore I had no idea what I was in for.   Now that I have been around for over 2 years I can honestly say what an amazing Store and Locavore community.  Now I know how lucky I am to be working with Central Oregon Locavore and the whole team. 

Caroline comes to the Locavore with the intention of diving into Central Oregon’s food community. She believes that eating local is an essential step in lowering one’s carbon footprint. During her sustainable agriculture internship while at James Madison University in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Caroline became deeply connected to the concept of local ecology and sustainable communities. Working on two organic farms, one small-scale and one larger operation, Caroline picked up an understanding of localization and slow-food movements through assisting with the farmer’s market and CSA preparation.

Caroline also has volunteered for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) on a small farm in Eastern North Carolina. She is so thrilled to be a part of this diverse food community and to know where her food is coming from, and the fewer the miles, the better. When she is not at the Locavore, she is most likely marketing green energy (biomass, solar, wind and geothermal) for Pacific Power, or shredding trails on her mountain bike.  

We happily welcome Ms Bella Weiner to our little team of rockstar employees for the summer. Bella is a Bend native who returns home for the summer after graduating from college this last June. Many of you may know Bella as part namesake of the wonderful company SaraBella. Yup! That’s her. Sara is her mom, and a current board member at Locavore. Those of you who have met Bella have most likely noted her bright personality, quick sense of humor, and amazing ability to pick things up quicker than a hundred dollar bill. Bella is also working at Windflower Farm this summer, supporting the local food movement is so many ways. Thank you so much Bella for being a part of the Locavore team this summer! You definitely fit right in.

Dylan comes to Locavore with a true passion for sustainable food systems.  He’s an active proponent of permaculture, and believes in urban gardening as a way to restore the land and build community.  Dylan has traveled and worked on farms around the world.  Here in Central Oregon, he gardens, grows fungi, and forages.  If you spot a fruit tree growing in Bend, it might be one of the many that Dylan has planted!

Hailing from Cannon Beach, OR, Patty grew up with a passion for local food. Her family and neighbors had their own gardens, and often bought meats from the local butcher. This passion translated straight to adulthood, where Patty has continued to work with sustainable local food movements, not only here in Oregon, but as well as Hawaii, where she completed college and ran a local, organic pizza restaurant for 4 years.

Patty is also a yoga teacher, and feels that the connection with food is essential to how we connect to our bodies and minds. Patty loves to share her knowledge of cooking, yoga and love for local, seasonal food!

I grew up in Bend, spending most of my time riding horses, climbing trees, or with my nose buried in a book (or several). I’ve always loved our community & learned early on from my dad, Dave Jasper, that you should always be involved & always work to lift up others around you. After I graduated high school, I worked as a equestrian coach for a time before taking up activism & working for the Oregon Student Association during the 2012 election cycle. I’ve always had a passion for activism & grassroots movements which is why I’m so excited to be joining the Locavore team. I lived in Europe after the election for several months travelling & working in different countries before I returned to Bend & studied massage therapy at COCC. I’ve worked as a massage therapist & yoga teacher, working primarily with kiddos, for the past two years at various businesses in town, but I have been called to return to my passion of digging deep & making a bigger difference in our community. Besides on my yoga mat you can find me skiing at Bachelor, frolicking & hiking out in the forest, pruning one of my many houseplants, cruising around town on my bike, writing poetry, dancing with Bend Burlesque Co., dragging it up with the queens & kings from The Cult of Tuck, & now behind the counter at Locavore.

Lily is thrilled to be part of the local food movement, and even more grateful to be part of the Locavore community. She believes that eating local is not only a great way to drastically lower our carbon footprint and support the environment, but also a special way of connecting with our community that is missing in today’s society. Lily has always been an advocate for sustainable communities through local food, from working with a small self-supporting Ecuadorian community in the Andes mountains to grow and produce all organic produce in their garden, cheese from their free-range cows, and jams from their local fruit and berries, to living in a Bahamian island community fully run off their local farm, a wind turbine, rain cisterns, and solar energy, to passionately marching in the People’s Climate March against industrial agriculture. Apart from her locavorian strides, she is a singer-songwriter, yogi, outdoor enthusiast, and student working towards a major in community involvement and a minor in sustainability just wanting to leave this planet better than how she found it.

Natalie is now working with our fellow non-profit Friends of Family Farmers, an orgainzation that works to promote socially responisible agriculture in Oregon.

Megan moved on to start her own farm, Boundless Farmstead, that is now one of the biggest selling farmers at Central Oregon Locavore. Megan remains very involved in the local food community.