MARY VAN JACOBS

After growing up in Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Denver, I am a child of Colorado’s Front Range. My love for my home state encourages my passion for exploring nature, new foods, and the rich history of our world. These passions took me to Portland, Oregon where I studied history and spent a year abroad in Salzburg, Austria. Two of my favorite classes, “Science of the Sustainable Gourmet” and “Food Is Medicine,” both fueled my already growing interest in sustainability, food, and agriculture and also inspired me to write my senior thesis on the history of Colorado craft beer.

Through my career in Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental, Social, Governance, I believe businesses and corporations have an inherent responsibility to serve the communities in which they operate. I am fulfilled when I work in the areas of Social Determinants of Health and access to good, clean and fair food.

I look forward to supporting Slow Food Denver as we continue to educate and inspire our community to repair our connection to healthy food and the incredible people that grow it.

One of my favorite quotes is from the French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in his 1825 book, Physiology of Taste: “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es” which translates to “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are.”