Marianne Smith Edge, a food and nutrition expert from Owensboro, has been named to the board of directors of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. Edge is a registered dietitian and founder of The AgriNutrition Edge, a food and agriculture communications consulting firm.
Edge is the first Owensboro resident since 2006 to serve on the board of the Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for policies to improve health throughout the Commonwealth. She has been appointed to a three-year term that began Jan. 1, 2019.
The Foundation’s board consists of 15 members statewide, including two who are appointed by the Governor and one by Anthem.
“Marianne’s expertise in nutrition and food systems, her business leadership experience, and her communications savvy will significantly enhance the board’s ability to evaluate and convey the impact of food and agriculture policies on health in Kentucky,” said Mark Carter, Foundation board chair.
Edge is a sixth generation farm owner. Prior to founding The AgriNutrition Edge, she served as senior vice president and in other roles at the International Food Information Council in Washington, D.C. Before that, she owned MSE and Associates, LLC, a strategic nutrition consulting firm for the food and health care industries. She is also a nationally and internationally recognized speaker in consumer insights and food systems issues.
She is former president of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, and a member of both the Institute for Food Technologists and the American Society for Nutrition. Edge served two terms on the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board.
Edge holds a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from the University of Kentucky, and is a former member of the UK board of trustees. She earned her master’s in public health/nutrition from Western Kentucky University.