Volunteer Hot Seat – Betsy Vanleit

Before we get started, tell us a bit about yourself…

I love backyard picks and gleaning. We live at the center of an incredible amount of amazing produce. I’ve studied food systems and was on the board of a food co-op in New Mexico, so I know how much goes to waste and how hard it is for farmers to get their produce to people who need and want it. [Food Forward] is a low tech way to help a system that needs a lot of help. I cook and bake, so I love being around food and produce. I just love Food Forward. It’s an incredible organization that’s doing really good work.

I was a professor and administrator at The University of New Mexico for the Health Sciences Center and have a PhD in Community Health Education. I saw over and over that rural folks didn’t have access to good food, which was a big part of the heart conditions and diabetes [they experienced]. Food was central to my work in public and community health. Food is non-negotiable in people’s lives–everyone has to eat. It is essential to well-being and health.