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Art & Soul - The Culinary Arts: Meet The Local Woman Known As The "Tomato Evangelist"

Marcy Harris

This week, "Art and Soul" focuses on the culinary arts.  WEMU’s Lisa Barry and Jessica Webster speak with Tammie Gilfoyle, a local artist, dog rescuer, and now known to some as the “tomato evangelist” because of the fresh vegetables she's growing in Dexter.

Credit Lisa Barry / 89.1 WEMU
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89.1 WEMU
Tammie Gilfoyle at the WEMU studio

WEMU's Lisa Barry and Jessica Webster talk with Tammie Gilfoyle of Ann Arbor.  An artist, dog rescuer, and also a farmer, Tammie grows a number of vegetables on her farm in Dexter.

Credit Lisa Barry / 89.1 WEMU
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89.1 WEMU
Some of the produce from Gilfoyle's farm.

There are some who believe there is a story behind the food we eat.  Tammie says there are stories behind the seeds she plants to grow hundreds of tomatoes and peppers.  The name of her farm is "Tamchop Farm," based on a nickname she earned working a few years ago when she lived in California.  She's also known these days as the "tomato evangelist" because of her love of growing different varieties of tomatoes, which will be used for a number of upcoming local special dinners.

Credit Lisa Barry / 89.1 WEMU
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89.1 WEMU
Some of the produce from Gilfoyle's farm.

Her life partner, Zingerman's co-founder Ari Weinzweig, helped her coin the term "PFM," as in "Proud Farmer Moment," when her hard work pays off growing vegetables from seed in the spring to something being sold and served around Washtenaw County.

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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu

Jessica has been a record store clerk, a Denny’s waitress, a newspaper reporter, a science writer, a mom, a higher education communicator, a radio host and (and one time) one of the most powerful people in the jazz industry.
Lisa Barry was a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU.
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