My story in a capsule.

March 9, 1984, in the small town of Austerlitz, NY, 122 miles north of New York City, a little girl was born on the couch of a 1770s farmhouse on Schoolhouse Road. Delivered by her grandmothers, this little girl would be named Deborah Elizabeth Schober. And so my story begins.

This farmhouse belongs to the Schober farm, a small dairy started by my late grandfather, Henry Schober. After completing his BS from Cornell University, Henry's son, Hans (Austrian, anyone?), took over and, following the trend of 60s/70s agriculture, expanded the farm and increased the herd.  At the time I was born, my father, his cousin, Walter Wolfgang Schober, and a couple of my older brothers were milking about 80 cows.  The farm was a part of the Cabot Cooperative, famous for their cheddar cheese. However, in the early 90s, the Cabot Coop merged with the larger New England Cooperative, AgriMark and as a result, our milk was distributed amongst a number of different dairy products. 

As a wee tike of 7 years old, I started working on the dairy. I was official calf-feeder in the afternoons after school. I did little more than that for 8, or so, years when my younger sister could take over the duties.  I then removed myself for several years studying Anthropology and Writing at Ithaca College. My senior year, I studied abroad in Belize focusing on Natural and Cultural Ecology. Something about being abroad brought me closer to home - that and getting a fresh, firm grasp on the role of agriculture in ecology - the role of humans IN nature - not separate from.

So, upon completion of my BA (honorary, if I may declare), with a new-found interest in the farm and all the systemic inequities I was raised witnessing, I returned home to work full-time with my Pa for one year while applying to graduate programs.* I then succeeded in getting into World Learning SIT Graduate Institute (SIT) where I studied Sustainable Development and Spanish. I catered much of that education to Agriculture Policy, thinking I wanted to get into Policy Advocacy, and my volunteer/intern work within SIT's Environmental Working Group and Stonewall Farm to community organizing and program development. 

Since, I've interned with Representative Gillibrand, acted as Outreach Director with the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy, traveled throughout Central and South America, and WWOOFed for three months at a biodynamic vineyard in Cauquenes, Chile.*  I returned to the States, rather the not-state of Washington, DC last June and have worked at several different restaurant/bars including SOVA, Pizzeria Paradiso, and now Toyland (website to be up and running soon).*

Between farms, gardens, vineyards, winebars, beer bars, and cocktail bars, I've learned quite a bit about food and drink, love every bit of it, and plan on continuing this journey. I hope you've enjoyed the introduction and looking forward to sharing more of this life of creation and consumption with the world. 

*Indicates more involved stories to be posted.