Ohio Hunger Dialogue 2019
Erin White
PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER OF THE COMMUNITY FOOD LAB IN RALEIGH, NC
A native of North Carolina, Erin White is a designer, entrepreneur, and teacher working for healthy food systems. Characteristic of his collaborative nature and his belief that diverse ideas lead to resilient solutions, Erin built this creative practice as a hybrid model in the intersection between design, consulting, and social entrepreneurship to allow free exploration into what it means to design for the human-centered territory of food systems.
With White's experience in architecture, urban design, construction, restaurant cooking, public health statistics, and agriculture, Community Food Lab provides key assistance to organizations and communities developing innovative food systems projects to solve complex, root-level problems. Over six years the firm has led projects as diverse as school district farms, farmers markets, food hubs, urban agriculture strategies and food security plans. Current work includes food justice and race equity planning in Durham NC, and launching of a regional vision for agricultural economic development in central and eastern NC.
As a resident of fast-growing Wake County, White recognized the need to support coordinated food policy and decision-making that responded to urgent needs of the County. In 2013 he led the creation of the Capital Area Food Network to begin filling this need through collective planning and dialogue. Over 4 years he has served this dynamic and expanding food council in multiple leadership capacities.
He is a native of North Carolina, and has a Masters in Architecture from NC State University and an undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College. He and his wife live in Raleigh, where they try to keep up with two fast-growing preschoolers and a big home garden.