Local Vendor Spotlight: The Forager & the Baker

Andrew Ranville (the Forager) & Anna Sysling-Ranville (the Baker)

How did a news story about wolves on Isle Royale lead to the creation of a small-batch granola business?

Like the crunchy handmade clusters that fill each bag of The Forager & The Baker granola, the story is both wholesome and sweet.

While working as a multimedia journalist for a Detroit-based PBS affiliate, Anna Sysling-Ranville took an on-location assignment in 2023 reporting on the island’s wolf and moose populations. It was during this trip that she was introduced by a mutual friend to Andrew Ranville, artist and executive director of the Rabbit Island Foundation, an international artist residency located on a remote island in Lake Superior. Their mutual creativity, as well as a shared love of the outdoors and good food, made for an instant and deep connection.

“We were both reading Robin Wall Kimmerer so decided on a date picking serviceberries,” said Anna. “We hit it off immediately. Six months later, I moved up here. Six months after that, we were married.”

Since moving to the Keweenaw Peninsula in 2017 (following years of travel and artist residencies all over the world), Andrew has continued to build upon his career of using art as a social practice.

“Andrew is incredibly involved in our community and is so determined for people to see how special the Keweenaw is. It’s a true endeavor in placemaking,” said Anna.

After making the move to Calumet, Anna was unsure of what the next steps in her career would be.

“I was here and sort of doing what I wanted but still doing so within the confines and conditions of who I was working for,” said Anna. She had done a few stories on urban farmers in Detroit, and was moved by their grit, determination, and dedication to creating food sovereignty in their communities.

“Detroit experienced an intense population loss over the last 50+ years, so seeing how people worked to repurpose and reimagine the area was so inspiring to me,” said Anna. “Moving up here, obviously the Keweenaw is a very different place, but I started to notice some of the same gaps in terms of food access and security.”

She started to meet and learn from the people who left their day jobs to help fill those gaps — small farmers, community members working together to stock a free community fridge, local vendors at the markets. She began taking shifts at Ghost House Farm in Houghton and experimenting with locally sourced foods in the kitchen, building upon recipes she had been utilizing for years to support her complex autoimmune health issues.

“The community, the local food community, up here is so incredible. They’re hard-working and supportive of each other.”

Andrew had already been foraging chaga and making jams and jellies out of locally foraged fruits like serviceberries, thimbleberries, and rhubarb, for quite some time. They saw an opportunity to get more involved in the local food scene themselves, and started to sell their foraged and baked items at the Calumet Farmer’s Market.

“I was making tartes, cookies, muffins and donuts for the market but wanted to do something with a longer shelf life, so I settled on granola,” said Anna. “People were absolutely obsessed with it.”

Using gluten free oats, natural and locally sourced sweeteners like maple syrup, healthy fats like coconut oil, flavorful and healing spices, and add-ins like nuts and dried fruits, Anna created several unique flavor and texture profiles — including Turmeric, Almond & Blueberry and Rosemary, Walnut & Cherry — that the community was gobbling up.

“I started to ask myself, ‘Would it be insane if I left my day job? What if we went all in on this?’” said Anna. “Really, it was either that or quit selling at markets. I couldn’t sustain both.”

Andrew wasn’t as worried.

“I knew if we were determined and supported one another and the idea, that we could really accomplish it,” he said. “I felt it would work out.”

Whether it was his words of encouragement or her observation of a life guided by creative interests and supported by homegrown skill, Anna was onboard.

“Andrew has lived what I think is a lot of people’s dream life,” said Anna. “He’s incredibly resourceful and creative, he’s traveled all over the world. He’s shown me and helped me see a vision for myself. I didn’t have to work at a desk for someone else. We could really do this. Before him, that was so beyond my scope of possibility, but I was seeing him do it. He had been living it for a long time. Watching the waves he has somehow managed to ride allowed me to feel safe enough to take this leap of faith.”

Anna worked on perfecting recipes and experimenting with new ones, while Andrew took on the creative endeavors of making the logo, website, and bag labels.

“The enthusiasm of farmers market customers was insane. We’d sell out after 30 minutes, which really verified and bolstered my confidence as a baker,” said Anna.

Between the end of the market season and the holidays last year, The Forager & The Baker got set up in a commercial kitchen space in The Copper Scoop and completed MDARD certifications.

They had many conversations as a couple and as business partners, setting boundaries to preserve each relationship and define what success in the business would mean to them.

They wanted to keep it small for quality control, said Anna. She makes about 25 bags of granola at a time, which is all crafted and bagged by hand. In addition to markets, they now stock several retail stores including the Keweenaw Co+op in Hancock and the Marquette Food Co-op. They’re excited to sell at the places they love to shop at.

“Farmers markets and co-ops play such an important role in communities,” said Anna. “They speak to an elemental part of what it is to be human – to come together around food, see people and catch up. We’ve realized this is more than just the food these places are providing access to. The strong social aspect feels very important.”

The business is evolving fast.

“We’re really finding that sweet spot right now,” she said. “We’re very hands on and have a close connection with what we’re making and offering while also being supported enough to live the lifestyle we want.”

As they’re both firmly grounded in the philosophy of food as medicine, the quality of ingredients is incredibly important, said Anna.

“In terms of sourcing, I’ve learned to always try to make the best decision I can given the conditions.”

Oats are certified gluten free and from suppliers in the Midwest, and ingredients like spices and oils are purchased from small local retailers when possible. Maple syrup comes from Danielson’s Sugarbush and herbs, like rosemary, are from Troemner Farm in Atlantic Mine.

They try to source locally grown fruit when possible, but that also brings challenges. For example, there was a major drought in northern Michigan recently that affected the state’s cherry supply.

While they couldn’t scale foraging in an ethical way to support their production, they try to get as close to the spirit of foraging as possible.

“We look for clean and minimally processed ingredients, and never at the expense of the environment and ecosystem,” said Andrew.

The Forager & The Baker granola is gluten free, vegan, and naturally sweetened.

“We’re making something that’s good for everyone,” said Andrew. “There are no artificial sweeteners, no inflammatory refined sugars. We’ve done our due diligence to make sure people who have dietary restrictions can enjoy it, while also being something that everybody loves.”

As a former journalist, Anna said she always was listening to something, mostly newscasts, while completing tasks. She’s taking a different approach to granola making.

“I make this granola in silence with so much intention,” she said. “It’s a meditative practice for me. What we chose to give our attention to is what we choose to love and notice, and we give so much attention and thus so much love to this. It’s such a rewarding part of the job.”

Every ingredient is weighed and then hand-mixed (“my forearms are screaming at me!”) in large tubs, said Anna. It’s then poured out onto baking sheets and smoothed down with a spatula for maximum surface area in the oven. It’s baked low and slow for nearly an hour, cooled just long enough to dry and allow the oil to settle and caramelize into “crispy bits,” but not too long or else it will reabsorb moisture from the air. They end up with huge flat pieces that they shatter and then bag by hand the same day.

An airtight seal on the bag keeps it crunchy and extends the shelf life to 6 months unopened, and a couple of weeks opened and stored on the countertop.

Anna and Andrew eat their granola daily, often on yogurt with frozen berries and a drizzle of local maple syrup. They both really love it as a topping on ice cream.

“We’re addicted in our household,” said Anna. “It always finds a way in.”

Looking forward, Andrew and Anna said they’re continuing to experiment and find balance, build upon relationships with other local growers and makers, and define what success means to them. They’re working on establishing a grant-funded public radio station to continue to tell stories of the land and the people who call it home.

“Taking that initial leap, we jumped right into the arms of so many supportive people — retailers, members of our community, farmers. They’ve caught us and are holding us and lifting us up,” said Anna. “It’s been so incredible, we can’t wait to see what comes next.”