Vanessa Herald, M.S., is Senior Farm to Institution Outreach Specialist at the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural System (CIAS). Ms. Herald leads efforts to connect growers, supply chain partners and institutional buyers at Wisconsin and Great Lakes Region institutions — like K-12 schools, early care centers, hospitals and universities — to purchase and serve more Wisconsin and regionally grown food items in the cafeteria setting. This farm to institution work includes training and technical assistance, supply chain development, facilitating communities of practice, and assessing barriers to institutional purchasing. Ms. Herald’s key projects include the creation and implementation of the annual Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch and the Wisconsin Chili Lunch. She co-leads the Wisconsin Farm to School Network and supports the burgeoning Wisconsin Farm to Early Care Work Group. In addition, Ms. Herald provides facilitation and project evaluation services to university and community food system partners. She earned an M.S. in the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and a B.A. in Linguistics from Yale University. She lives in rural Rock County, Wisconsin restoring native prairie and hanging out with a flock of laying hens.