Laurie Bruce is a wife, mother, and grandmother with an entrepreneurial spirit who left the full-time workforce to pursue her own value-added foods business.

Laurie and her husband Joel are first generation farmers outside of Augusta, Kansas.  Laurie’s farm focus is on food and adding value to products that come off the farm.  Laurie has always had a passion for homemade food products and often enjoyed treating friends and neighbors to homemade Sand Plum Jelly.  When a friend approached her about selling her jelly to the public in 2017 Laurie was apprehensive, but took the leap and attended her first outdoor craft market and was in disbelief when she sold out of Sand Plum jelly and her pumpkin breads in a short amount of time.

This spark of selling a product she had created in her own home kitchen lit a fire in Laurie that continues to grow with each passing day.  Laurie now owns and operates her own licensed commercial kitchen, has expanded her jelly product line to over 40 different jam and jelly flavors, offers homemade bierocks using the beef raised on her farm, and manages the El Dorado Farmer’s and Art Market.

Laurie is also a former high school math teacher and has a mind that constantly thinks about numbers!  Her mind for numbers and her passion for food collided a few years ago when she was hired by Butler Community College at the Redler Culinary Arts Institute as an adjunct instructor where she teaches Culinary Math periodically.  Additionally, Laurie has contracted with the Kansas Department of Education where she has been trained to be a Culinary Coach for the State of Kansas.

Chuckie, a former Family & Consumer Science teacher and farmers' market vendor, currently serves as a Regional Specialist for Kansas Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Education. With a deep passion for sustainable food production, she is dedicated to strengthening the local food economy.

Beyond her professional work, Chuckie is a mom to three amazing adult-ish children, a gardener, laying chicken wrangler, and a shepherd, managing both goats and sheep. She also finds time to milk her cow “Lady Mae” and develop content for a food-focused website, combining her skills and interests to promote healthy, homegrown living.

Teresa is a recent transplant to south central Kansas having spent 20+ years in the Kansas City metro area. She is currently the Value Chain Coordinator for the Kansas Rural Center (KRC). She draws from her experience in food policy, community organizing, farm business, and producer in her roles as elected official, community coalitions and board roles acting as a cross pollinator, bringing food system issues and policy into the conversations at every opportunity.

Prior to her role at KRC, she served as the Director of Operations for the Kansas City Food Hub, a farmer owned, farmer run cooperative. She developed and implemented processes and systems supporting the movement of local food from farm to fork as part of a strong community-based food value chain.

Teresa is a Kansas Leadership Center certified coach and is excited about this new opportunity to support the increase in local food supply for children. It expands upon her role working with the KRC team and community partners to develop a vibrant, connected, and sustainable foodscape in Central Kansas.

Lisa is a Senior Nutritionist at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), Bureau of Community Health and Wellness. Her current duties include Early Care and Education (ECE) lead on the CDC State Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) grant team and nutrition lead on the CDC, Missouri Healthy Schools grant team. In 2014, she joined DHSS to develop school salad bar resources and build the Culinary Skills Institute (CSI) hands-on training for school and ECE nutrition professionals. Lauer has over 20 years of nutrition and community education through various platforms, including appearing weekly on WDAF-TV in Kansas City (KC) as the Fox4 Nutritionist and a media escort/food stylist for cookbook authors visiting KC. However, she developed her passion for school nutrition professionals and farm to school as a Head Start Nutrition Coordinator overseeing seven kitchens that fed 665 children under six years of age. She received both her Bachelor of Science in Foods & Nutrition and her Master of Education in Adult Learning & Leadership from Kansas State University. Outside of work, Lisa enjoys traveling and spending time with her children and grandchildren.

Rose Muñoz is an Early Childhood Professional Development Consultant with thirty years of experience. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Integrating the Arts into Curriculum, a Baccalaureate of Science degree that combines both the fields of Psychology and Social Work, along with an Associate degree in early childhood education. Rose’s experience ranges from Teacher Assistant to Director of Child Care Facilities. She maintains an ongoing career as a Professional Development Consultant, adjunct faculty at Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley, and Instructor in the Early Childhood field as a consultant, coach, and trainer in the Kansas City Area. Rose is dedicated to the early childhood field and uses her positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed by supporting children, families, and the community. She has worked with GO NAPSACC through Child Care Aware Missouri and supports many providers through training, coaching, and technical assistance.

Gary has been selling to schools for nearly 10 years. A former software/AI engineer, he started Green School Farms with a passion that healthy food belongs in schools and that establishing healthy eating habits in students conveys lifelong benefits. He is currently a farm to school consultant for both the Nebraska Dept. of Education and the non-profit Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln. He sits on several committees as an advocate for farm to school. Green School Farms is located near Lincoln, NE and uses regenerative and sustainable methods to grow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs. 

Emily began working as a Farm to School Specialist at the Nebraska Department of Education in 2024 and is the Project Director for the 2024 Heartland ECE Institute. She’s spent the past 15+ years working for non-profit organizations coordinating a variety of early childhood programs, public health-related projects, and food security initiatives. Emily is passionate about supporting ECE professionals, as their work is vital to the success of our communities and future generations. 

A few fun facts about Emily - she grew up in small town Nebraska (population of approx. 500 people) with her 4 brothers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Jonathon) and 1 sister, spent much of her childhood on her Grandma Ada’s dairy farm, has 3 kiddos (ages 9, 13, and 16), favorite thing to grow in her garden is cantaloupe, used to have a home organizing business, loves living near a college town and attending Husker sporting events with her husband, and enjoys all types of exercise (except for running!).

Erin is an Early Childhood Extension Educator serving Madison, Stanton, Platte, and Colfax counties in Nebraska. Erin teaches and supports those who interact with children birth to age eight. Previously, Erin was a Nutrition Education Program Assistant in Scotts Bluff County and brings a dedication to cultivating healthy habits to her current work. Erin provides coaching to early childhood professionals and families in several initiatives and was a 2021 Nebraska Farm to School Institute coach. Her focus is early childhood health and wellness and caregiver/educator health and well-being. 

Jordan is a Food, Nutrition, and Health Extension Educator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she focuses on healthy youth and families, early care and education, public health, food access, and farm to school. She began her career with Extension in July 2019 after leaving her role as a registered dietitian working in the clinical field. She received both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Nutrition & Health Sciences from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Jordan has spent the last 4 years working on statewide farm to school efforts. She was part of the planning team that hosted the Nebraska Farm to School Institute in 2021, is part of the Nebraska Farm to School Network Development Committee, and part of the Heartland ECE Institute planning team.

Aside from work, Jordan is a wife and mom to a busy one year old and Chesapeake Bay Retriever, enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, cooking, and spending time outside. 

Sarah Meyer is a Farm to School Specialist in the Office of Coordinate Student Support Services at the Nebraska Department of Education. Sarah is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has worked with the Nebraska Department of Education for 3 years helping on a variety of projects surrounding school wellness policy, nutrition and agriculture education, food sovereignty, and Farm to Early Care and Education. 

Outside of work, Sarah loves travelling to the next National Park on the list with her fiancé, enjoying the great outdoors here in Nebraska, snuggling with her cat, Pepper, visiting family and friends, and exercising her creative side by painting.