Food Connects is excited to welcome Beth Lewand to their team as their Food Hub Sales Associate.

Beth joins the team with over 10 years of experience in the food industry. Most recently she was the Operations Manager at Cricket Creek Farm, a grass-based dairy and artisanal cheese producer in Williamstown, MA. Previously, she and her husband Chris founded, owned, and operated Eastern District, a food shop specializing in craft beer and artisanal cheese, in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. 

“I think my experience as both a producer and a buyer will give me a greater understanding of our partners' needs, and hopefully help me to help them succeed,” says Beth. “I love the fact that this is a nonprofit food hub, rather than a traditional distributor, and that education and other community efforts are prioritized.”

Food Connects focuses on local food, so we asked Beth why the local food movement was important to her. “I care about it for so many reasons: because of its impact on environmental and economic sustainability; for its potential to deliver fresh, healthy food throughout the community; and because of the simple joy it brings us to connect with the land and the people who feed us.”

Beth’s passion for local food and drive to increase its impact will help propel Food Connects into the future. As a rapidly growing organization, it is important to continue to diversify products and increase the number of local producers and customers they work with. Beth’s experience will help bring on new customers and partners, offer more local products, and expand the network that Food Connects is a part of.

When Beth isn’t working with Food Connects she spends time gardening, cooking, listening to music, sewing and other textile arts, hanging out with her husband and cats, and spending time outdoors. And her favorite food, by far, is cheese! She’ll fit right in with the rest of the Food Connects crew!

And now some of the fun stuff:

If Beth was shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all her needs—such as food and water—were taken care of, she would bring along a universal jukebox and a gigantic set of Legos. And when she was little she wanted to be everything when she grew up—from a doctor to a ballerina, to a window display designer. “Oddly I never daydreamed about the food business as a kid, but now I know it's the best!”

“I'm grateful to the Food Connects crew for a warm welcome, and I'm really looking forward to meeting all of our customers, producers, and partners!” And we are excited to have you on our team, Beth!