B.C. Food & Wine Trails Magazine
Born and raised on an apple orchard in East Kelowna, Jennifer Schell is a passionate supporter of BC’s vibrant farming, food and wine industry and loves to provide a creative lens inside the province’s magical landscape and its people.
A widely read and followed food and wine writer and editor of Food & Wine Trails Magazine since 2008, Jennifer loves sharing the stories of the amazing wine and food community in BC. She is the author of three cookbooks, the internationally award-winning cookbook series, The Butcher, The Baker, The Wine & Cheese Maker, also featuring the inspiring members of the food and drink scene.
Very active in charities and her community, she is a proud member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and the founding coordinator for the Okanagan Soup Sisters/Broth Brothers chapter. She is on the Program Advisory Committee for the Okanagan College’s culinary school and an instructor in the new Food, Wine & Tourism program the Continuing Studies offering a series of food, wine and farm workshops and intensives.
As an extension of her networking skill and love of camaraderie, in 2009 Jennifer established WOW (Women on Wine), a wine paired lunch club. She is the co-founder of Okanagan’s signature Diner en Blanc event and is co-founder of the Garagiste North Wine Festivals, celebrating the under 2000 case producers in BC. Jennifer and her festival partner are now organizing smaller ‘Spotlight’ festivals featuring single varietal wines and food pairings. Through the festivals, they have created a Garagiste North Wine Studies Scholarship offered at Okanagan College. Contact her here: jennifer.schell@winetrails.ca
Staff Writers & Contributors:
(in alphabetical order)
Blake Allen
Blake has more than five years of experience in the Summerland wine industry. A graduate of UBC, he works as a freelance writer specializing in wine and environmental issues. His wine of choice is a robust Malbec.
Cassandra Anderton
Cassandra Anderton is a freelance travel, food, wine, and lifestyle writer and broadcaster. She appears regularly on Global Television and has been published in BC Living, The Vancouver Courier,BC Wine Trails Magazine, The Yellow Pages Style Guides, Darpan Magazine, and runs Goodlifevancouver.com. Cassandra Anderton consults on Public and Media Relations and manages social media marketing for many companies in the food, drink and travel industries. She is also brand ambassador for BC and Alberta Pork, and works with brands to promote their stories. Cassandra was born in New Zealand, grew up in the Okanagan and has made Vancouver her home for the past 30 years. She is passionate about local food and wine, and loves to travel and report on what others are doing to promote their local culture.
Roslyne Buchanan
Roslyne Buchanan is based above the Naramata Bench, Penticton, BC, where she believes she has the perfect lifestyle balance to write and share her experiences. Her freelance work follows her successful fulltime career in Alberta in areas such as strategic marketing, communications, editing, media relations, event planning, relationship building, business development, fund development and supervisory leadership.
Thanks to her parent’s inclination to move the family across Canada, she learned how to find the beauty present everywhere. She prides herself in a global perspective and is thrilled in her travels to experience how the locals live, and to learn about people, new things and perspectives. Living in the Okanagan has heightened her enchantment of the wine industry and all things culinary plus recreational pursuits such as travel, golfing, skiing, hiking, tennis and snorkeling. Most adventures are shared with her husband, Mark and at home, they are managed by two felines Baja and Floyd. Find her personal blog at www.rozsmallfry.com and/or follow her on twitter @RozDB or on Instagram @roslynebuchanan
Lesley Buxton
Lesley studied theatre in London, England, and travelled extensively before settling down in Penticton, B.C. For ten years she worked in the hospitality industry in restaurants and hotels in London, England; Sydney, Australia; and Vancouver and Ottawa. Her short stories and essays have appeared in a variety of Canadian literary journals. She recently graduated from the University of King’s College with a MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the School of Journalism.
Elaine Davidson
Elaine Davidson can’t seem to leave her former career as a journalist and communications director for Parks Canada behind as she plunges into life in the Okanagan. She is chronicling her love of the Valley in her blog, Naramatablendblog.wordpress.com. Elaine and her husband, “The Handyman”, are starting a Naramata berry farm and spending lots of time in the lake training to swim the English Channel this summer on a relay team.
Kris Johnson
Kris Johnson is a proud resident of the beautiful and bountiful Okanagan Valley. He gets a kick out of taking visitors to local vineyards, orchards, and farms, exploring the valley’s numerous hiking trails, getting dirty and growing food, and looks forward to the day when he is so awash with bubbles that he can brush his teeth with sparkling wine. Kris also really loves his tan. Like, a lot.
Kathy Michaels
Kathy Michaels is an Okanagan news reporter who, in her spare time, delights in exploring the valley’s food and wine culture.
<kmichaels@kelownacapnews.com>
Henrietta Poirier
As a freelance writer of 15+ years, Henrietta Poirier helps clients find their voice and articulate their vision clearly and creatively. She has worked in Canada and the U.K. as a ghostwriter, copywriter, scriptwriter and blogger. She also provides clients with integrated digital marketing services and creative content strategies that cross media platforms.
Deanna Rainey
Deanna Rainey is an Okanagan writer whose work has appeared in a variety of local and regional publications as well as corporate web sites. After studying Journalism she worked in the tourism industry and was involved with the development of many specialty travel publications. Her work appears regularly in BC Food and Wine Trails.
Her articles often celebrate the wine, food, people and places of the Okanagan Valley. She loves to travel and takes advantage of the many opportunities to be a tourist in BC with friends or her husband, Dave. Deanna’s greatest passion is her family and her two dogs. She loves to read and is an ardent hockey fan. She has resided in the Okanagan for over 35 years and is proud to call it home.
Abbey Westbury
Originally from New Mexico, Abbey Westbury was overjoyed to make her way back to the high desert, hot summers and incredible skiing when she moved with her family to the Okanagan in 2012. She has been writing for various publications for the last decade, in between juggling her full-time job (mom) and all sorts of community volunteer work. Abbey and her husband own Nagging Doubt Wines, a boutique winery in beautiful Southeast Kelowna, where most of her neighbours raise alpacas. Alpacas are afraid of the dark.
Luke Whittall
Luke is a professional wine lover, recovering musician, and creator of Winecountrybc.ca which features a weekly podcast about BC wine. He is currently blogging for the Okanagan Wine Festival Society and is a guest blogger for Consciouswine.com, which promotes sustainable, organic and biodynamic wineries on the west coast. He completed the Advanced WSET Level 3 at the Art Institute of Vancouver in 2007 and has worked in u-brews, cellars, vineyards, and wine shops since 2005. He is the current president of the Oliver Community Garden Society which helps promote food security and self-sufficiency through community garden sites and education. Luke is currently working on a book about the history of the Okanagan wine industry.