Sarah Smith, Heartland Regional Outreach Coordinator Impact Fellow, has served with higher educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and state agencies to further mobilize local and regional food systems towards expanded access and smart practice. Specializing in farm to school for a decade, she provided training, technical assistance, and development of programs to support buyers and providers of local foods regionally and across Nebraska. Her additional experience in the field ranges from ranching, managing urban farmers’ markets, developing rural community gardens, and enhancing market access to local foods for communities and organizations. Building commonality to maneuver towards increased access to growing and eating regionally is central to her scope of practice in food systems work.