Michelle Ajamian

Appalachian Staple Foods Collaborative Network Manager

michellea@ruralaction.org

740-590-1501

Michelle Ajamian, network manager at Rural Action’s Sustainable Agriculture program, launched the Appalachian Staple Foods Collaborative in 2009 as an informal network project to gather resources towards building local agricultural economies around staple seed crops. She is also the principal at Shagbark Seed & Mill, an organic processing facility she and her partner launched to develop a regional model for the production and processing of staple grain, bean, oilseed, and nut crops. She worked with Rural Action previously developing the organization’s communication tools and brand and coordinating the Service Learning Program in the ’90s.