Ferial Rewoldt started her farmer’s market business, Hummus and Falafels of the Mediterranean, as a way to get to know her community.

Rewoldt came to the U.S. from Lebanon in 1976 as a nurse. After retiring in 2011, she decided to bring her cooking skills to our local farmers market in 2016.

“I decided to do this to get to know my community better,” Rewoldt said.

To Rewoldt and her family, food is a form of nurture. Growing up, Rewoldt watched her family cook traditional recipes, slowly learning how to make these dishes herself. Eventually, she transitioned from watching her parents cook to flipping through cookbooks, scrolling the internet for new recipes, and practicing her skills independently.

It was the perfect opportunity for her to share her passion with the community. So when she found herself in Ann Arbor, she decided to form a business as a vehicle to get to know her community better and share her passion product. She has five women from the Middle East from parts of Iraq, West Bank, Jerusalem, Amman and Jordan that help her create falafels and other products. For Rewoldt, her business is community work.

Rewoldt now spends every Wednesday and Saturday at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market meeting and interacting with people from all different parts of Ann Arbor by selling Mediterranean food created by her many years of dedication and expertise.

Photo by Aidan Hisa
Post by Isabella Jacob, Aidan Hisa, Vedha Kakarla, Wilson Zheng and Zane Swerdlow