Who We Are

Canning Across America (CAA) is a nationwide, ad hoc collective of cooks, gardeners and food lovers committed to the revival of the lost art of “putting by” food. Our goal is to promote safe food preservation and the joys of community building through food. We believe in celebrating the bounty of local and seasonal produce and taking greater control of our food supply. Together, we can.

The Collective

Working Group

Nicole Aloni is the author of 3 books about the art of cooking and entertaining: The Backyard Bartender, Secrets From A Caterer’s Kitchen, and Cooking for Company.  Nicole makes frequent television appearances, including The Food Network, and locally for KOMO News. She also teaches cooking and entertaining across the country at schools like Sur La Table, Draeger’s, and Central Market and contributes articles to national magazines. Presently Nicole is focusing her attention on her blog, A Conscious Feast, which chronicles the development of her forthcoming book A Conscious Feast and other topics that catch her attention as she eats her way around the world. Prior to her writing career, Nicole completed the diploma course at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris, owned her own restaurant, directed one of the country’s largest catering operations and produced a line of gourmet food products for fine grocers. You can find out more about Nicole at her website. She lives, cooks, and preserves in Seattle, WA.

Jenise Da Silva is passionate about cooking, gardening and the “farm to school” movement. Jenise’s experience with canning started when she was a kid in the Midwest and she continues that tradition today. She has used her experience in community building, marketing & brand management to create many award-winning projects including FireFree which was recognized with top honors (the Golden Smokey Award!) by the US Forest Service.  She authored the book Women and Money and launched a national facilitated discussion series (years before Suzie Orman penned a book under the same name).  Jenise is an avid supporter of community gardening and farmers markets and you can usually find her at Pike Place Market, in a PCC Cooks classroom, weeding in the Interbay P-Patch or at a farmers market in Seattle.

Stephanie Gailing a nutritionist and wellness consultant, is the author of Planetary Apothecary. As a natural health writer, she has covered whole foods, dietary supplements, and complementary medicine for numerous media outlets and has served as a writer/editor for The World’s Healthiest Foods website for the past nine years. Stephanie’s career in the natural health field has also encompassed operating her own eco-products retail store and serving as a nutrition education consultant for companies in the natural products industry. She holds a master’s degree in nutrition from Bastyr University.

Leslie Kelly, a veteran food writer, is the former restaurant critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She’s currently working in kitchens around Seattle and chronicling her journey from pen to pan in a series called Critic-Turned-Cook. Her grandmother taught her to can pickles and peaches, but she’s still trying to get it right.

Shannon Kelly is a trend researcher and creative development consultant focused on retail, food & lifestyle industries. She’s passionate about understanding consumer culture and our continually evolving relationship with food as founder of In Your Head and CityStimulus™. Shannon started canning jams and pickling vegetables at 10 but has never executed the art without the assistance of the matriarchs in her family- until now. Her trend musings can be found at Trendscaping.com.

Lisa Kennelly is a writer and food lover based in Seattle.  A former sports journalist, she now works in public relations as a social media strategist.  She grew up in a family that has always valued cooking and gardening, and has fond memories of canning peaches and tomatoes as a kid.  She blogs about eating and living in Seattle at  There’s a Hipster in My Latte.

Kim O’Donnel (founder) is a trained cook, nationally recognized online food personality and a journalist with 15 years of experience. A former online food columnist at The Washington Post, Kim files edible dispatches at True/Slant. Her cookbook, The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores Will Devour.

Kim Ricketts is the founder of Kim Ricketts/Book Events, a company that connects people, stories and ideas: one book at a time. One of the most popular series created by Book Events is the Cooks & Books series: in the past 6 years we have shared over 100 dinners with the world’s most interesting food writers and chefs. At home, Kim is an energetic and enthusiastic home cook, and excited to jump into the fine art of canning and preserving.

Jeanne Sauvage is an enthusiastic gluten-free baker and recipe developer. She has a Ph.D. in theater theory, which is helpful in her never-ending hunt for new recipes, ideas, and concepts to ponder. She loves to can jams and pickles and enjoys using her preserved foods in the meals and baked goods she makes. One of her favorite things to do is to share food and convivial time with friends and family. Being gluten-free has freed her from a life of processed food. Her blog is Four Chickens and the Art of Gluten-Free Baking.

Rachel Thibodeaux works in web development and is a great lover of all things culinary. She’s always planning her next meal, enjoys working in the kitchen, and cherishes old & new cookbooks. While a novice at canning and preserving, she gardens and is looking forward to canning this year’s bounty. She writes at Rachel: Photo Diary and posts pictures on Flickr at Sally Simpleton.

Viv is a Seattle based photographer and the voice behind the multiple award-winning food blog Seattle Bon Vivant. She grew up in a food loving family with parents who kept a kitchen garden, cooked from scratch, ate at the dinner table together and instilled in her, from a very early age, a deep love for all things edible; cooking, baking, buying local, eating with the seasons, entertaining at home and putting food by. She’s been canning for over 15 years, sharing her preserves (pectin free, slow cooked in small batches) with family, friends and neighbors. You can find Viv online at her blog, on Flickr and on Twitter where she chronicles her adventures in food, wine, analog photography, travel and culture around Seattle and the world.

Tara Austen Weaver is a writer and editor whose work focuses on the topics of food and travel, culture and agriculture. She writes the award-winning food blog, Tea & Cookies. She is author of the bookThe Butcher & The Vegetarian: One Woman’s Romp Through A World of Men, Meat, and Moral Crisis. Tara’s been canning since she was a teenager, with a serious addiction to pickles of all types, peach and blackberry jams, and Meyer Lemon marmalade.

Friends of the Canvolution
Shauna James Ahern
Keren Brown
Rebekah Denn
Crescent Dragonwagon
Naomi W. Kakiuchi
The Lazy Locavores – Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby (aka The Shibaguyz)
Janine MacLachlan
Marisa McClellan
Lucy Norris
Emily Paster
Hope Sandler
Traca Savadogo
Noah Sheetz
Audra Wolfe