Mary Berry

Executive Director of the Berry Center

The Berry Center Executive Director Mary Berry and her brother, Den Berry, were raised by their parents, Wendell and Tanya Berry, at Lanes Landing Farm in Henry County, Kentucky from the time she was six years old. She attended Henry County Kentucky public schools and is a graduate of the University of Kentucky.

She, her husband and family have lived and farmed in Henry County since 1981.They started out as dairy farmers and growing Burley tobacco. Ten years ago they replaced tobacco with growing grapes and wine making when they established the Smith-Berry Winery.

In addition to establishing a winery, managing the tasting room, working on the farm and raising three children, she catered the events at the winery, both private and public.

Currently, Mary serves on the Board of Directors of United Citizens Bank, in New Castle, Kentucky; is a presidential appointee to Kentucky’s Farm Service Agency; is a member of Louisville’s Mayor’s Food Policy Council, and writes for the periodical, Edible Louisville. She speaks all over the country as a proponent of agriculture in the middle, in defense of small farmers and in the hope of restoring a culture which has been lost in rural America.

Toward these ends, Mary established The Berry Center in 2011. The focus of The Berry Center is on land use, farm policy, farmer education, urban education about farming, and local food infrastructure. The goal is to establish within the Commonwealth of Kentucky a national model of urban-rural connectedness.