Mary Elizabeth Smithson is originally from Jackson, Mississippi and made her way to Nashville in 2017. Her original plan to get a post-grad degree in Sociology, after graduating from the University of Mississippi with a BA in Anthropology/Sociology in 2014, took an interesting twist when she completed three years of AmeriCorps programs. She got her start in the food world with two service years of FoodCorps in Oxford, Mississippi from 2015-2017 and fell in love with the work. While in Nashville, she juggled a few different jobs as a farm educator, an after-school garden instructor, and a meal prep cook before a stint in New Orleans at a meal prep company, where she managed the plating/packaging department. She returned to Nashville in August 2020, reconnecting with friends and spending more time on her hobbies, such as sewing and roller skating. She is thrilled to be in community with TNFP coworkers who are driven by food justice, sustainability, and alleviating hunger. Once the pandemic lets up, you'll be sure to find her at a music festival dancing to her favorite artists, traveling to new places to see what else is out there, or simply cooking in her kitchen with friends and family.