Nancy Fuller is a Food Network personality and chef. She has been married to her husband, David, for 27 years. She's a mom to six children, a grandmother to 13 and has been part of the Food Network family as a host and judge for more than 11 years. Ahead, hear how this hard-working grandma keeps everything cooking.

Nancy’s Background

Nancy was born and raised in Copake, New York, a town located about two hours north of Manhattan. She attended high school at the Buxton School in Williamstown, Massachusetts, before heading west to Santa Ana Junior College in California, where she left after a year and moved back to New York. She married a dairy farmer and, in 1950, purchased a motel and converted it into a hotel and restaurant. Soon after, she began putting her energy into a catering business and leased the facilities at the Columbia Golf & Country Club, where she met her fourth husband, David Ginsberg. Nancy invested in David’s family’s local food distribution company, Ginsberg's Foods.

“David’s grandfather opened a butcher shop in Hudson, New York, in 1909,” says Nancy. “That was the impetus for what we are today.”

When she turned 65 years old, Nancy stepped back from the company to allow future generations to step in.

Nancy's Food Network Shows

Nancy is the host of Farmhouse Rules — though working in television was never her plan. Before Nancy landed a role on Food Network, an acquaintance asked her if she'd mind lending out her property for a video shoot. While there, a producer asked Nancy if she’d ever done television, calling her a “natural.” Nancy told Valley Table that she responded to the question by saying, “No, I’m 63 and fat — that’s as natural as it gets.” She eventually filmed and submitted a video that was shopped to the Food Network, which resulted in her highly successful Farmhouse Rules show.

Filmed out of the kitchen of her 300-year-old Georgian/Dutch Colonial home, the show highlights Nancy’s love for her husband, children, grandchildren and 152 acres of farmland. The show ran for seven seasons, from 2013 to 2025. “Every day is different, and it’s fun coming up with the episodes,” Nancy said. The name Farmhouse Rules comes from her Grammy Carl, who kept an old spiral-bound cookbook containing recipes with names such as Myra’s Rule, Inez’s Rule and Mama’s Rule. “Rule meant recipe,” shares Nancy.

In addition to hosting Food Network’s Farmhouse Rules, Nancy — who is known for her spiky white pixie haircut — has also served as a judge on Holiday Baking Championship, Spring Baking Championship and Clash of the Grandmas.

Nancy, the Author

In 2015, Nancy released a cookbook containing 120 recipes called Farmhouse Rules: Simple, Seasonal Meals for the Whole Family. It includes easy-to-create recipes such as summer grilled cheese, apple crumble and French-style potato salad.

Fun Facts About Nancy

• Birthday: March 27
• Zodiac sign: Aries
• Relationship status: Nancy has been married four times. She married David, her current husband, in 1997.
• Hobbies: She loves to collect antiques.
• Trivia: Nancy never went to formal culinary school or worked her way up the ranks in restaurant kitchens.
• Current residence: Hudson Valley, New York, and Delray, Florida

Where Does Nancy Live?

Farmhouse Rules was filmed out of Nancy’s 1766 Georgian/Dutch Colonial home located in Hudson Valley, New York. The house — which boasts views of the Catskill Mountains — is also known as the Conyn-Van Rensselaer home. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (The entire property is known as Locust Dale Farm.) With its dark wood cabinets, hardwood floors, ceiling beams, beehive oven and collection of antique wood serving bowls and dishes, Nancy’s kitchen has played a featured role on Farmhouse Rules. Nancy also owns a condo in Delray Beach, Florida.

Nancy’s Family History

Like her mother and father, Nancy grew up as an only child, which she calls “unusual for a farm family.” Her grandmother’s cousin, Grammy Carl, had no children and became a surrogate grandmother to Nancy. “She was the epitome of the farm wife, and probably the woman who influenced me the most,” Nancy has said. “Grammy Carl made the best chicken and the best coleslaw and the best gravy and the best cookies.” Nancy has six children, including daughter Lorinda, a school principal who appeared on the show. Growing up, her children were expected to help out on the farm. “Christmas, no one got a present until all the chores were done, all the cows fed, milked,” she has said. Her grandchildren have all graduated from four-year colleges, with some getting their master’s degrees and one getting a Ph.D. “Ain’t too bad for a farmer,” says Nancy.

Nancy’s Partnerships

Besides being a book author and co-owner of Ginsberg’s Foods, Nancy collaborated with Tommy Brunett and Iron Smoke Bourbon to create GG Guice, a bourbon whiskey. She has said it was the most spontaneous thing she’s ever done. “It’s butter, soft, spicy. I think my favorite word for GG Guice is magical,” says Nancy. She has been a brand ambassador for Trident’s Louis Kemp Crab Delight and has partnered with the New York Apple Association to showcase the culinary potential of New York apples. Nancy has assisted the Community Hospice of Columbia & Green Counties and the Columbia Memorial Hospital (where she held a seat on the hospital’s foundation board) and she also supports the Hudson Valley Bounty, which helps connect local farmers with buyers and educate the general public about the issues related to farming in the Hudson Valley.

Keep Up With Nancy

Watch Nancy on Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship and Spring Baking Championship. Follow her on Instagram @fullerfarmer.