Annie Brown’s passion for food began as a young girl where she learned how to cook in her mother’s country kitchen. She created her first cookbook at age six and made her very first dollar selling handmade pimento cheese sandwiches at a local public auction at age eight. Since then she has been involved in the food industry as a part-time caterer, restaurant critic and cookbook reviewer for the Albuquerque city magazine, director of a cooking school in New Mexico, co-founder of an artisanal pasta company in Baltimore, sales/marketing director of a nationally distributed pasta company out of Denver and public relations director for several Boulder restaurants and specialty food products. At age 14 she read, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, and never was able to eat meat again. Annie has been with Rodale Institute since 2012 and has served as the Director of Development since 2016. Rodale Institute is the global leader in organic agriculture research and farmer training. While not fully vegan, she is about 95% plant-based. Connect with her at her website.