Over the past nine months I’ve had the privilege to speak to a number of aspiring Bay Area food entrepreneurs about their businesses and how they got started. This project has been extremely fun and rewarding for me personally, and it has been an honor to tell the stories of each of these artisans’ journeys in food and life on this blog.
Today I’m asking readers of this blog to help support some of these entrepreneurs get additional funding for their businesses through Whole Foods’ Local Food Makers Grant program. Six—count ‘em six!—of the people I’ve interviewed have been nominated to receive these grants through their local Whole Foods markets in Northern California. The grants are given by popular vote by the public, so your vote counts!
Votes can be placed once daily online via the local store’s Facebook page or via mobile vote–which means you can vote early and vote often, like in the grand tradition of Chicago politics! Voting runs through June 19, so you can place a vote every day until then, you just need to be logged in to Facebook to vote and “Like” the store page, then vote. Winners of the grants will receive 5 percent of the local store’s receipts on July 2nd, funds that will really help these entrepreneurs build their small businesses.
Below is a list of the folks who have been nominated with links to the voting pages and to my interviews with them. Two of the artisans, Stephanie Fields and Kelly McVicker, are actually duking it out for the proceeds from the same store, so vote for one one day and the other the next!
Please take the time to vote and support each of these wonderful and deserving people in making their delicious food products and in making their dreams come true! (And just for the record, I don’t have any affiliation with these stores or entrepreneurs other than having interviewed them for the blog.)
Victoria Miller, Brown Dog Mustard
Brown Dog Mustard
Owner: Victoria Miller
http://www.browndogmustard.com/
Her story: http://wp.me/p1rLtz-ig
Vote here: https://www.facebook.com/WFMWalnutCreek/app_303561899745219
Gina Conedera, Chunky Pig
Chunky Pig
Owner: Gina Conedera
http://chunkypig.bigcartel.com/
Her story: http://wp.me/p1rLtz-81
Vote here: http://woobox.com/hhmvoq
Kelly McVicker, McVicker Pickles
McVicker Pickles
Owner: Kelly McVicker
http://www.mcvickerpickles.com/
Her story: http://wp.me/p1rLtz-kr
Vote here: http://woobox.com/3iz9of
Dan Cook, Mead Kitchen
Mead Kitchen
Owners: Dan Cook and Paul O’Leary
http://themeadkitchen.com
Their story: http://wp.me/p1rLtz-qn
Vote here: http://woobox.com/xc3rhs/8hvguz
Mark Sorenson, Santipapas Salsa
Santipapas Salsa
Owner: Mark Sorenson
https://www.facebook.com/santipapasalsa
His story: http://wp.me/p1rLtz-ka
Vote here:http://woobox.com/6s6gdr
Stephanie Fields, Sugarfoot Grits
Sugarfoot Grits
Owner: Stephanie Fields
http://www.sugarfootgrits.com/
Her story: http://wp.me/p1rLtz-ez
Vote here: http://woobox.com/3iz9of
Photos courtesy of Victoria Miller, Gina Conedera, Kelly McVicker, Dan Cook, Mark Sorenson and Stephanie Fields.
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