For seventh-generation cattle rancher and Duluth Wayforger™ Elizabeth, days are a mix of saddle time, tending to livestock and managing life’s many details at Rancho San Julian, her family’s 14,000-acre ranch outside of Santa Barbara, CA.

Connecting chefs and local customers to healthy, humanely raised food is the primary goal. Preserving the land and honoring the place she calls home are just a few of the many satisfying rewards.

Fostering relationships with food is Elizabeth’s mission, and that goes beyond sustainable free-range meat. Elizabeth hosts classes in the ranch’s community garden to teach meal prep, canning, pickling – even writing workshops. And if you can’t be there in person? Her blog, “The Ranch Table,” highlights recipes, how-tos and other slow-food practices to have you falling in love with every meal.

“I love to be able to show people that it doesn’t have to be fancy and it doesn’t have to be complicated,” says Elizabeth. “It can be as simple as people going to markets and meeting farmers and connecting with their food that way.”

It’s Elizabeth’s hope that a few simple steps will lead to deeper roots with local growers and food producers. Knowing who’s supplying what you eat and where it comes from can only bolster small-scale operations and promote responsible land stewardship.

“Making a living on the ranch, you get a special connection to the land,” Elizabeth says. “It’s where we come from, and we work hard to ensure it stays together and we can improve it while we are here.”