Full Name
Maureen McNamara Best
Job Title
Executive Director
Company
Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP)
Speaker Bio
Maureen McNamara Best
Executive Director
Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP)
Maureen McNamara Best is the Executive Director with Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP), a 501c3 non-profit based in Roanoke, VA. LEAP nurtures our food community to create an equitable food and farming system which prioritizes health and abundance by supporting community initiatives, markets, farms, and farmers. To tackle the complicated problems in our food system, LEAP works closely with community members, farmers, and organizational and government partners. LEAP programs include LEAP Farmers Markets (West End and Grandin Village), LEAP Mobile Market, LEAP Farm Share, Healthy Food Incentives (financial incentives for produce for people who participate in SNAP, Medicaid, WIC), The LEAP Kitchen, farm to community planning, and regional food system development. LEAP also serves as the fiscal sponsor for Virginia’s statewide Nutrition Incentive Network, Virginia Fresh Match, to make fruits and vegetables more affordable for people who participate in SNAP (food stamps) at over 120 farmers markets, farm stands, and community-based grocery retailers across the Commonwealth.
Maureen has over fifteen years of experience working with food, agriculture, and community. Her work and professional experience is wide-ranging and includes teaching high school agriculture in Raleigh, NC, working with migrant farmworkers in eastern NC and in the Colorado plains, doing food safety inspections in Boulder CO, and studying the economic viability of the local food system in Northern Colorado. Maureen has a Master of Arts in Anthropology from Colorado State University and undergraduate degrees in Agriculture Education, Spanish, and Anthropology from North Carolina State University. Maureen recently completed her Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg Fellow. You can contact Maureen at maureen@leapforlocalfood.org.
Executive Director
Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP)
Maureen McNamara Best is the Executive Director with Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP), a 501c3 non-profit based in Roanoke, VA. LEAP nurtures our food community to create an equitable food and farming system which prioritizes health and abundance by supporting community initiatives, markets, farms, and farmers. To tackle the complicated problems in our food system, LEAP works closely with community members, farmers, and organizational and government partners. LEAP programs include LEAP Farmers Markets (West End and Grandin Village), LEAP Mobile Market, LEAP Farm Share, Healthy Food Incentives (financial incentives for produce for people who participate in SNAP, Medicaid, WIC), The LEAP Kitchen, farm to community planning, and regional food system development. LEAP also serves as the fiscal sponsor for Virginia’s statewide Nutrition Incentive Network, Virginia Fresh Match, to make fruits and vegetables more affordable for people who participate in SNAP (food stamps) at over 120 farmers markets, farm stands, and community-based grocery retailers across the Commonwealth.
Maureen has over fifteen years of experience working with food, agriculture, and community. Her work and professional experience is wide-ranging and includes teaching high school agriculture in Raleigh, NC, working with migrant farmworkers in eastern NC and in the Colorado plains, doing food safety inspections in Boulder CO, and studying the economic viability of the local food system in Northern Colorado. Maureen has a Master of Arts in Anthropology from Colorado State University and undergraduate degrees in Agriculture Education, Spanish, and Anthropology from North Carolina State University. Maureen recently completed her Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg Fellow. You can contact Maureen at maureen@leapforlocalfood.org.
Speaking At
