I am a sixth-generation Michigan farmer, and a third-generation Michigan blueberry farmer. I have spent the last twenty-four years working and learning in all areas of the hospitality industry. My career has progressed from a restaurant host at age sixteen, to restaurant manager, high school culinary educator, Ingham county restaurant health inspector, and finally at age thirty-seven I started in my current positions of tenured college professor and organic heirloom blueberry farmer.

I live in Bangor with my wife, Three cats, Three dogs (Great Pyrenees, Chocolate Lab/German Shephard, and Rottweiler), and a ball python. Together, we run Mitchell’s Patch of Blue, a 25-acre organic heirloom blueberry farm that my grandparents started in 1956

Mitchell’s Patch of Blue provides organic heirloom blueberries that are served in hospitals, schools, restaurants & breweries all throughout Southwest Michigan. We also host educational farm tours for the Sustainable Horticulture program at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

At Kalamazoo Valley, I teach Culinary Arts, Agrifoods, and Sustainable Horticulture. During my tenure, I have taught: Food Safety Essentials, Culinary & Food Industry Math, Food Industry Career Planning, Purchasing Practices, Sustainable Food Syst/Practice, Restaurant Service & Management, Agrifoods & Processing, and Horticulture Management.

Prior to Kalamazoo Valley I also taught Culinary arts for Jackson College and Grand Rapids Community College and for 6.5 years I was assigned to ensure food safety and code compliance for approximately 180 restaurants, as well as all downtown Lansing, MI festivals and food trucks with the Ingham County Health Department