Our Team
Our team at Main Street Farms is not only committed to providing our community with high quality, organic, and sustainably raised vegetables, but we also strive to create fair wage jobs and do work in our community to educate about healthy eating. All team members on our farm love growing, cooking, and sharing food and we even eat lunch together everyday on the farm!
Allan Gandelman (He/Him)
Main Street Farms Owner, CEO
New York Hemp Oil, President
Allan began his career teaching high school social studies, and quickly realized a major obstacle for his students was a lack of fresh and nutritious food. Allan wanted to start a farm to be able to educate kids about where their food comes from and to be able to grow food for the school cafeteria. He started with Main Street farms in 2011 with his friend and business partner Bobcat, partner Adrianne, and generous assistance from friends, family and volunteers. Each year the farm has increased in size and continues to produce more organic food for the Central New York community. Today, Main Street Farms grows over 50 types of vegetables just outside of the City of Cortland. Allan is passionate about organic agriculture, providing healthy food for his CSA members and customers, and creating sustainable jobs for people in the community. Allan is also the President of the New York State Cannabis Growers and Producers Association.
BobCat (He/HIm)
Main Street Farms Owner, CSA Manager
Bob Cat learned about the value of good food and hard work while growing up on Long Island in an Italian family and helping his dad in the garden. Bob Cat studied Communication and Media at SUNY New Paltz, where he met his long-time friend and future partner, Allan. While traveling around the world, Bobcat discovered Wwoofing (World-wide opportunities on organic farms) where he fell in love with farming. Soon after, when his good friend Allan called to tell him he was planning on starting a farm and needed some help, and Bobcat knew this is where he wanted to be. He has held many positions on the farm, including Harvest Manager, Farm Manager, Farm Chef, Pack Shed Manager, and Educator. When Bobcat isn’t working, he can be found playing music with his band, The Local Farmers Union, cooking and eating delicious food, and hiking, traveling, or enjoying an IPA with his wife Kat. Bobcat is now a proud papa of 2 beautiful children, Lily & Leaf.
Adrianne Traub (she/HER)
Farmer and Certification Coordinator
Adrianne (Age) Traub, a Cortland native, started Main Street Farms with Allan and Bob Cat in 2011. On the farm, she fills many roles including manager of the organic certification process, head huntress and agro-ecosystem manager. In 2019, she started Headrow Hill, an Organic U-Pick Blueberry operation adjacent to Main Street Farms fields. Adrianne earned a Master’s of Food Studies from Syracuse University in 2019 and currently works at Seven Valley Health Coalition as a Project Coordinator working to strengthen our local food system and increase healthy food access to low-income community members. In her spare time she enjoys practicing herbalism, tanning leather, backpacking on the Finger Lakes Trail, and contemplating Marxist agrarian theory!
Bret Morris (He/Him)
Owner & VP of Cultivation
Bret and his wife Stephanie have been farming in the greater Binghamton area for over 10 years. Before relocating to McGraw and starting Shared Roots Farm 5 years ago, they were living and farming in NE PA. They started growing for market in 2008. Before farming, Bret was a teacher in Nashville. He attended Temple University, where he graduated with a degree in Biology. After years of farming beside each other, we decided to join forces this year to focus on growing massive amounts of quality veggies together. Bret has a ton of knowledge and experience growing vegetables and running farms. Main Street Farms has lots of land, equipment, and awesome employees. So it was a good fit for both of us. While Bret will be overseeing all the growing of the vegetables, Steph will still be overseeing Shared Roots Farm CSA and farmers market stand at the Binghamton Farmers Market. They have 2 lovely daughters, Hazel and Sydney. In addition to farming together, Bret and Bobcat have played music together as well. They co-founded the band The Local Farmers Union.
Keegan Bush(He/Him)
Harvest Manager
Keegan, a native of Cortland, NY, started working at the farm in 2017 as part of the farm crew and since then has been promoted to harvest manager. As harvest manager Keegan is responsible for all aspects of daily field operations including what to plant and when to harvest. Keegan has three beautiful daughters, Lucille, Lennon, and Lorel who love spending time on the farm.
Courtney Rouper (SHe/Her)
Cultivation Coordinator for Vegetable Operations
Courtney hails from the Adirondacks and recently moved to Cortland. Before getting into agriculture, she worked in restaurants for about 10 years. Courtney has worked on a bunch of other farms, including a few horse farms, a pork farm and other veggie farms. She is in an apprenticeship to be a farrier. Courtney’s favorite vegetables are tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. When she’s not working, Courtney does MMA and likes to go hunting, fishing, & spending lots of time outdoors.
MASON BENNETT (He/Him)
Packshed, Post-Harvest, & Distribution Coordinator
Mason grew up in the rural Finger Lakes and currently lives in Ithaca. He joined Main Street Farms in June 2026 and coordinates the harvest, cleaning, packing, and delivery of vegetables for the farm’s CSA members and farmers markets. Before joining the team, Mason ran a local moving company and worked as the hiring manager for an industrial hemp processing facility, experiences that prepared him to manage busy schedules, physical operations, and plenty of moving parts.
Mason enjoys working with his hands, staying active, and spending his days outside. He is especially grateful to work alongside a crew he couldn’t speak more highly of. Outside the farm, Mason practices real estate and spends time with his wife, Abbey, their two daughters, Charlotte and Sylvie, and his Shepradoodle, Bimi.
JOel Lawerence (He/Him)
Tractor Operator
Joel has been farming for 30 years, mostly dairy with Jerry Dell Farms. Not only can he drive tractors, he also enjoys maintaining them. He initially started with the company as a delivery driver. Joel enjoys motorcycles, fishing, camping, and being outdoors.
Seasonal Workers
Field Crew
Every year for the last few years, we get about 6 or so seasonal, migrant workers from Jamaica, through the H2A work visa program. “The Jamaican Crew” is always so much fun to work with. These guys are such hard workers and always have a smile on their face. Not only are they a tremendous help by putting in a ton of work on the farm, it is also an awesome cultural exchange. Thank you Derrick, Neilly, Brooks, Anthony, Henry, and Richard.
