Eatdrink #76 March/April 2019

20 | March/April 2019
eatdrink.ca |@eatdrinkmag
Spotlight
Stratford Women in Food (2019)
Seven Sisters with a Seat at the Table
By BRYAN LAVERY
S
tratford has no
shortage of outstanding
women
who have made
inroads into a milieu that
has been traditionally maledominated.
Many Stratford
women come to their
professions, in part, with
dedication to improving
the world through access
to food. The following list
of culinary stalwarts is just
the tip of the iceberg.
Anne Campion
Anne Campion
Owner & Barista, revel
Anne Campion is committed to the core values
of social justice by procuring and serving
ethically and sustainably produced direct
trade coffee. She can be seen pulling espresso
shots or making consistently perfect cortados
at revel, her busy coffee shop off Stratford’s
Market Square. Behind the scene, she’s
ensuring that her business is modelling all
aspects of the ethical culinary conversation.
“Our desire to be for the
good of our community,
both locally and globally,
informs all our decisions,”
says Campion.
Launched with the
assistance of just two staff
people, Campion now
employs 18. In addition to
baristas and front of house
staff, two pastry chefs now
bake all of Revel’s pastries
in house, using products
from many local farmers.
A formative coffee relationship
with Las Chicas
Dee Christensen
del Cafe (read about the
sisters behind this business
in our “Elgin Women in Food”
story in this issue), who developed
signature Nicaraguan
blends for revel, continues,
while a new association with
transcend coffee + roastery
in Edmonton, AB (founded in
2006 by Poul Mark) is opening
doors for new growth.
Working with transcend’s
green buyer, Josh Hockin,
and an all-female roasting
team led by Kate Sortland has
allowed an expansion of revel’s
exclusive coffee offerings. In
the fall of 2018, Don Moncho
from Costa Rica was featured. This winter,
Rudy Perez from Guatemala was introduced.
There will soon be another new coffee from
Costa Rica, and Campion is especially excited
about bringing in an exclusive coffee from
Ethiopia later this spring.
Building direct trade relationships with
coffee growers through her partnerships with
Las Chicas del Cafe and transcend coffee, and
joining forces with other
businesses to support local
community initiatives, is as
fundamental to Campion’s
business as ensuring the
proper brew and pour of the
next great cup of coffee at
revel.
Dee Christensen
Owner, The Planet Diner
Restaurateur Dee Christensen
is a writer, social advocate
and the former owner/editorin-chief
of Recovery Wire
Magazine, a leading addiction
magazine. Christensen used