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Dietitians of Central Texas Fall Member Meeting: Values Based Purchasing in Austin-Travis County by The Sustainable Food Center
September 20 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm CDT
Free – $20.00
The Sustainable Food Center supports healthy food across Texas and works to get local
foods from farm to table. Join us for an enlightening presentation as Hallie Casey and
Marissa Bell define values-based purchasing and provide techniques to overcome
challenges when it comes to purchasing local foods.
Free for members; $20 for non-members.
Dinner will be provided!
Meet the Speakers:
Hallie Casey, Value Chain Director at SFC
Hallie leads the strategic development and direction of the Value Chain program, which grows
connections between Texas producers and buyers, such as schools, institutions, and retail markets. By working with buyers to grow their local purchasing, we are building more demand for local products, supporting Central Texas farmers, and strengthening the resilience and sustainability of our regional food economy. She is deeply passionate about food and sustainability and aim to learn more about food and agriculture every day. Her background in technical knowledge informs the way she approaches new challenges in food systems work. Her favorite part of her work is deep research that leads to putting the pieces of a new solution together. Currently, she is particularly interested in food policy, the good food movement, and localizing food economies.
Marissa Bell, MPH, RD, LD, Dietitian and Marketing Coordinator at Lake Travis ISD
Marissa has served as the Dietitian & Marketing Coordinator at Lake Travis ISD since 2020 where she spearheads the district’s implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Program and works to align district food purchases with 5 core values: local economies, environmental sustainability, valued workforce, animal welfare and nutrition. Marissa brings a values-based perspective to various aspects of menu planning, procurement, and food service operations across 12 schools, serving 11,500 students. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Nutritional Sciences and minor in Horticulture from Texas A&M University, as well as a Master’s of Public Health in Health Promotion and Education from UTHealth Science Center.