Jane Cavagnero. Though Jane was born and raised in a seaside town in the Bay Area, she seems more at home in the mountains. Sitting on a boulder at the edge of an ambling river, craft beer in hand and feet dangling in the water, with her tent pitched in the meadow behind her—that is how I picture Jane. And she does manage to put herself in just that sort of setting with amazing frequency—but not because she has nothing else to do. In fact, Jane usually has four jobs at once while also holding down a couple of volunteer positions. It’s because she is so darn efficient that she has time to dangle her toes in the creek.
Jane was already quite familiar with our plains-meet-the-mountains landscape when we met her: she had graduated from Colorado College with a degree in International Political Economy. Her studies of food policies around the world naturally brought her back to questions about our very own food landscape, and she joined Meadow Lark to begin to understand how local farms can fit into the food system at large.
At Meadow Lark, Jane was quick to put the coffee on every morning and set a record for washing dishes. She discovered her love for local agriculture, garlic scapes, and Ottolenghi. We discovered Jane’s down-to-earth practicality, her enviable collection of jewelry, and that she was always down for a beer. And everyone was keenly aware of her efficiency. Working alongside Jane meant that you’d get through the checklist in time to jump in the irrigation ditch before service.
When our season concluded, Jane once again signed up for multiple jobs—studio manager at Lange Studio and farm manager at Lykin’s Gulch, among others. Next, she’ll embark on a Master’s program in Sustainable Food Systems at CU. That, in her case, leaves plenty of time for other things, so Jane will come back on board Bella to co-direct our 2018 farm dinner season with Lena! And no worries, if you want to see her, she’ll always have time for a beer.
