Erin McKee VanSlooten

Erin McKee VanSlooten joined IATP in 2010. She leads the Community Food Systems Program with the long-term goal of building vibrant food systems that give all people access to sufficient, safe, culturally appropriate and nutritious food while also developing local food supply chains that allow small- to mid-scale farmers access to a variety of new markets. She envisions decentralized, local food systems that are accountable to, and largely controlled by, the community members who depend on them, where food is produced and distributed in a manner that builds equity, justice, and resiliency in policy and practice. Her current projects focus on Farm to School and Farm to Early Care, getting fresh healthy produce from our local growers into school and early care meals, as well as testing and promoting curricula and educational models that encourage food literacy as children make the connection between those locally grown foods and the farmers who produce them. She also works with a broad coalition of stakeholders to push forward state-level policy to support food systems that nourish the community throughout Minnesota. Erin especially enjoys working in solidarity with partners to strengthen community food systems both locally and nationally.  

Erin holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy, English literature and Asian studies from St. Olaf College and is currently enrolled in the Master of Public Affairs Program at the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.