Laurence Mate

After a stint cooking in a dining co-operative in college (the largest co-op in the state of Ohio at the time!), Laurence joined Common Ground soon after moving here in 1995. Since then he's become an activist for local foods, digging up the Chemlawn that came with his house to put in vegetable and fruit beds, proclaiming himself the Compost King of Champaign County at one point, building relationships with local food producers, and, most recently, starting up a private club that supplies charcuterie from locally-sourced meat and a dinner club that is organizing roaming meals of all-local foods. All while putting dinner on the table just about every single night!