Program Center Stage

Vanessa Venturini(she/her/hers), Extension Program Leader and Co-founder of Food Recovery for Rhode Island has a Master of Environmental Science Degree and has served as State Program Leader of the URI Master Gardener Program for the last decade.  She is currently leading an effort to transform the program into a multicultural organization poised to uplift and amplify community-driven food system and biodiversity projects.  Rhode Island born and Rhode Island bred, Vanessa is grateful to be in a role to connect motivated people and organizations doing good work by and with the community.  Ms. Venturini is all about good food, spending time in nature with her family, music, and embarrassing herself in front of her adult students for their enjoyment (ask about the goat noise, actually don’t).

Amanda Missimer (she/her/hers), Clinical Assistant Professor in the URI Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences and Co-founder of Food Recovery for RI, has expertise in curriculum design and development, health communication, student engagement, assessment and implementation of behavior change models as a nutrition specialist and registered dietitian. Dr. Missimer holds a PhD in Nutritional Sciences and is a Registered Dietitian, in her role atat the University she instructs undergraduate and graduate courses and splits her Extension time between FRRI and EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program). Coming from a background in biochemistry, it has been a joy of hers to step into the community and share information to help individuals foster a relationship with access to local food. This program has been a labor of love, and as a new Rhode Islander, the best way to learn about all lil’ Rhody has to offer its residents beyond the beautiful beaches and buck a shuck (raw oysters).