Laurel Smith is Nourish Colorado's Value Chain Coordinator, serving Colorado's Double Up Food Bucks program by supporting small groceries and corner stores to offer Colorado-grown produce as consistently as possible. Her passion for localizing our food system for economic, social, and environmental benefit comes from over ten years growing vegetables—at Buena Vida Farm in Fort Collins, at Stonebridge Farm in Longmont (home of the oldest continually-running CSA in Colorado), and as Garden Director for Garden to Table (supporting 20 school gardens across Boulder County.) Laurel is also part of the Poudre Food Partnership Producer's working group, which is exploring ways to make Larimer County a place where small producers can thrive. She is part of the HEAL Food Alliance School of Political Leadership 2023 cohort and National Farmers Union Beginning Farmers Institute. When she's not working for Nourish Colorado, Laurel camps with her girlfriend, takes her cat on adventures, and grows neo-hybrid hazelnuts and other perennial crops at her farm in Wellington, Colorado.