Marshall Miles Interviews-Aravah Berman-Mirkin: Long Table Harvest Co-Founder

Aravah Berman-Mirkin - Co-Founder and Director, they/them

Aravah founded Long Table Harvest after three full seasons apprenticing on and managing diverse vegetable farms in Columbia and Dutchess Counties including Sisters Hill Farm and Letterbox Farm Collective, while simultaneously working as a lead organizer with the Young Farmers Coalition Hudson Valley Chapter. Prior to foundaing LTH, Aravah had five years of experience working in the non-profit sector as a project manager with The Greenhorns. They served on the leadership committee of the Hudson Valley CSA Coalition from 2017-2021. Aravah co-created and co-directed Rolling Grocer 19, a collaborative community grocery store utilizing a Fair Pricing Model, located in Hudson and serving the greater Columbia County from 2016-2020. Aravah is a graduate of The Cooper Union School of Architecture.

Long Table Harvest recovers surplus produce and seedlings from local farms and delivers it to area food pantries, youth programs, and community-based organizations.

Mission

• Consistently connecting farm surpluses to emergency food sites and community based organizations while closing the food loop through sustainable surplus redistribution.
• Increasing regional capacity to improve accessibility and cultural appropriateness in the local food system.
• Creating greater exposure to the valuable work of our local farmers.
• Cultivating awareness of and capacity to change inequalities in the food system by directly engaging community members through opportunities for hands-on reciprocity and creating a county-wide network for resource, knowledge and wealth-sharing.