Women in Local Food
This March, in celebration of Womenโs History Month, we want to honor the many amazing women in Reno-Tahoe who make our food-and-drink community so vibrant.
From farmers and ranchers to chefs, brewers, and food artisans, passionate women in Reno, Truckee, Lake Tahoe, and all over Northern Nevada and Northern California put an extraordinary spin on the meals and beverages we consume.
Here we take a look back at a few features we have written on female entrepreneurs and women who work tirelessly to bring us innovative tastes and sips.
From the two women who founded and run edible Reno-Tahoe to the fabulous women who make our region so special, we honor and cherish your contributions.
Cheers!
Amanda + Jaci
Stories
The Truth About Goats
At Montero Goat Farm in Lovelock, goats are a way of life. For Gloria Montero, the woman behind the operation, that relationship goes back a lifetime. Montero not only provides quality meat to her community, but she also improves the local environment for flora and fauna alike. On top of that, sheโs ready to debunk the stereotypes about goats and instead shine a light on their complexity and delicacy.
Raising Food
Before heading to school each morning, Anna and Gracie Shane are out in the brisk morning air filling troughs with food and water for their lambs. At 16 and 14, respectively, the Carson High School sisters have responsibilities that extend well beyond homework and after-school activities. Through 4-H, Americaโs largest youth-development program, they are raising animals destined for the local food system โ and learning invaluable lessons about agriculture, community, and hard work along the way.
Suited to a Tea
Known for their holistic benefits, loose-leaf tea blends have been enjoyed for centuries, and at Too Soul Tea Co. in Reno, the options are seemingly endless when it comes to combining these soothing ingredients.
Coffee, Community, Cat Love
In October 2025, the United States surpassed Japan as the world leader in cat cafรฉs, boasting more than 300 nationwide. Today, every state has one except Delaware and Alaska. Cat coffeehouses offer the best of kitties and cappuccinos with a cool, contemporary ambience that fosters community, connection, and animal well-being.
Raw Food’s Sweet Side
Years of rebellion led Angรฉlia Aquarian down an Ayurvedic path. The Hawaii-born yoga practitioner sought to reverse the damage done during her partying era.
DIY Bonbons
Whether milk, dark, white, or bittersweet, chocolate is a universal delight. Setting aside the secret recipes and passionate chocolatiers, thereโs nothing like the silky earthiness of a bonbon and snapping off a bite from a bar that melts in your mouth. Itโs the epitome of indulgence.
From (Football) Field to Fork
Food is certainly fuel for Jesse Felker, a personal trainer and veteran quarterback on the Nevada Storm, Northern Nevadaโs female full-contact football team โ but itโs also about family, in all its forms.
Bird in the Hand
Reno farm wishes happy quails to you. Quail eggs offer many health benefits over chicken eggs, says Serena Hehnke, co-owner of Happy Quails HQ, a Reno-based quail farm. Hehnke โ who owns the business with her bird-obsessed partner Anna Farb โ says the birds not only are higher in protein than chickens, with more vitamins…
Cultivating Resiliency
With a mission to foster connection and resilience through neighborhood gardens, Soulful Seeds has been providing healthy food to vulnerable populations in the Reno-Tahoe area since 2017. What began as a community garden at Saint Maryโs Regional Medical Center in Reno evolved into a nonprofit organization in 2018. Today, Soulful Seeds oversees multiple USDA Certified Peopleโs Gardens across the community.
Bye-Bye Beer Bro Culture
For about 10,000 years, beer fermentation was cloaked in mystery and, thus, left to the women. Ninkasi, the Mesopotamian goddess of beer and brewing, oversaw the unknown chemical process that created the much-loved beer and the women who made our favorite frothy drink.
Cider Sense
When the air is crisp and the temperatures have cooled, our thoughts fill with visions of apple cider. Whether itโs served hot or iced, something about that sweet, crisp, fruity, spicy apple drink just makes sense for the winter season.
Lifting Spirits
If Saturday afternoon finds you in search of a tasty tipple, how about crafting your own specialty cocktail? High Mark Distillery in South Reno offers weekly cocktail-mixing and spirit-making classes in its tasting room. The classes are taught by owner/master distiller Felicia Keith-Jones.
Chefs to the Scholars
Gone are the days of relying on vending machines and ramen for sustenance at the University of Nevada, Reno. Like the students matriculating here, campus dining has grown up in recent years to make UNR a campus not just for scholars, but for anyone seeking affordable, nutritious, from-scratch meals.
Sports & Spice
Leadership experts would agree that a great leader knows how to empower others. Cary Groth is that type of leader. After all, in just one hour of conversation, she influenced me to want to try cooking on a salt block.
Seed Money
Although women comprise only about a third of the countryโs agricultural producers, they represent the fastest growing demographic in agriculture, their numbers nearly tripling over the last three decades.
Tales of the Cocktail
A good bartender makes good cocktails and pours perfect pints. A great bartender provides an experience.
Female Farmers Get a Boost
A 2017 United States Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture report states that of the 3.4 million agricultural producers in the U.S., women comprise just 36 percent.
Home-Crafted Creations
For most of us, baking at home is a task done on the weekend for fun, to celebrate special occasions, or to satisfy the occasional sweet tooth. And as we saw in spring of 2020, baking also can be a source of enormous comfort during uncertain or stressful times.
Pastry Perfection
For the past 10 years, executive pastry chef Kayline Johnson has worked tirelessly with her team to sweeten up the lives of Atlantis Casino Resort Spaโs guests.
Bold Broadcaster
Connie Wray is the first to admit that, deep down, sheโs really an adrenaline junkie.
How else would you explain someone whose rรฉsumรฉ includes marketer, emcee, voice talent, keynote speaker, podcast and video producer, fundraiser, promoter, social media influencer, content creator, storyteller, suicide prevention activist, humanitarian, and experienced radio/television host for more than 20 years โ many of these done concurrently?
Not Cookie Cutter
If they gave merit badges for being better late than never, Colleen Worlton certainly would have earned one. Worlton has served on the board of the Girl Scouts of Sierra Nevada for seven years, for the past three as its chair.
Recipe for Recovery
Ashley Lunt didnโt realize it at the time, but she was starving.
Lunt admits that until she entered STEP2, a Reno-based program that treats women with substance abuse disorders, she never understood just how painfully undernourished she was โ both physically and emotionally. She credits the lessons she learned in the days that followed with saving her life and giving her and her children a healthy, positive future.
Beer Professional
Iโm the kind of person who wakes up before dawn for a long day of sticking my nose into small, plastic cups in a warehouse full of Nevada homebrewers. In other words, Iโm passionate about beer.
A Woman’s Place
No doubt youโve heard the old adage, a womanโs place is in the kitchen. Well, history says otherwise โ at least as far as restaurant kitchens are concerned.
Contributors
Ali Dickson
Ali Dicksonย is a storyteller, local food advocate, and journalism masterโs degree student at the University of Nevada, Reno who loves uncovering all the best local finds in the Reno-Tahoe area.
Barbara Twitchell
Barbara Twitchell is a freelance writer with more than 150 published nonfiction articles and several writing awards to her credit.
Brooke Reyes
Brooke Reyes has been a Reno-Sparks local for 35 years and a photographer for more than 10 years, having had a love for it from a young age.
Carrie Lapolla
Carrie Lapolla is a Brooklyn-based illustrator with a focus on her one true love: food.
Cassidy Hersey
Cassidy Hersey is a creative living and working in Oakland, Calif.
Cheree Boteler
Cheree Boteler, a proud native Nevadan and alumna of the University of Nevada, Reno, is a visionary marketer and community advocate.
Christina Nellemann
Christina Nellemann is a Nevada native living in Washoe Valley.
Claire McArthur
Claire McArthurย is a freelance writer and community garden fan who wholeheartedly believes in the mental health benefits of getting your hands in the dirt.
Claudia Cruz
Claudia Cruzย is an award-winning journalist and editor, thoughtful leader, and instructor in journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, focused on informing people about the intersecting impacts of culture, law, business, and technology on their communities.
Courtney O’Neill
Courtney OโNeill co-owns Prema Farm in Reno with her partner in the Nevada high desert, where she writes about the unlearning of industrial food systems, choosing real organic food, and what happens when you pay close attention to soil, seasons, and your own limitations.
Donna Victor
A Miami native calling Reno home now, Donna Victorโs passion has been photography since she was a young child.
Engrid Barnett
Nevadan Engrid Barnett is an avid foodie who travels (and eats her way) regularly throughout The Silver State.
Flora Bai
Flora Bai is a New York City-based illustrator whose work explores the intersection of nature and the artificial.
Gaby Moreno
Brooke Reyes has been a Reno-Sparks local for 35 years and a photographer for more than 10 years, having had a love for it from a young age.
Heidi Bethel
Having lived in Northern Nevada most of her life,ย Heidi Bethelย relishes The Silver Stateโs transformation, including all the delightful foodie finds dotting the Sierra.
Jamie Della
Jamie Della is the author of 10 books, several articles for Edible Communities, and Writing the Magick publication on Substack.
Jessica Santina
Jessica Santina is the managing editor of edible Reno-Tahoe and a freelance writer and editor.
Kristine Toward
Kristine Toward is an illustrator, designer, and educator living in Reno.
Lily Therens
Lily Therens is a designer, illustrator, and art director located in Sacramento.
Mary Claire Bouchรฉr
Mary Claire Bouchรฉr is a shamelessly proud third-generation Nevadan and has been a contributor to edible Reno-Tahoe since 2023.
Megan Barnhard
Megan Barnhard is a Sparks-based storyteller and writing coach with a passion for food and the people who produce it.
Natasha Bourlin
Award-winning freelance writer Natasha Bourlin is a native Nevadan with a fervor for food, globetrotting, and the environment.
Nora Heston Tarte
Nora Heston Tarte is a longtime Reno resident with a passion for people and storytelling.
Olga Miller
Olga Miller is a freelance food and lifestyle photographer, recipe developer, and content creator.
Sandi Solomonson
Sandi Solomonson is a freelance writer specializing in solo travel and cuisine.
Sandra Macias
Sandra Macias, a longtime Reno food writer, considers herself a semi-carnivore โ prefers fish and lighter meals.
Sarah Bun
Sarah Bun is a functional medicine certified health coach and a cookbook author.
Sarene Wallace & Beth Lee
Sarene Wallace (right) is the managing editor of Edible San Fernando Valley, and Beth Lee (left) is the founder of the blog OMG! Yummy (Omgyummy.com).
Sharon Honig-Bear
Throw in large helpings of family, travel, food, celebrations, and fireworks โ then add a dash of writing, photography, the arts, and Reno history โ and you just might find a clone of Sharon Honig-Bear.
Sophia Marie Pappas
Sophia Marie Pappas operates Studio PDP, her illustration and letterpress studio located in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Susan Winters
Susan Winters believes in the sanctity of a shared meal as well as the restorative powers of a freshly baked blondie.
