Rayna Andrews is a Food Systems Leader, TEDx speaker, children’s book author, public health advocate and urban planner who was born in Houston, Texas. She holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism and a master’s in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development.

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Currently, Rayna serves as the Executive Director of Advancement and Engagement for wellness company Food For Health, but also writes books for children that promote healthy eating as a viable alternative. 

Today, Rayna lives in Milwaukee with her 5-year-old son. In her free time she enjoys traveling, painting, working as a volunteer, supporting her sorority and doing mission work for her church. 

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Rayna founded Healthy Food Movement, LLC to focus on nutrition security and food literacy in underserved communities because lower-income individuals are 74% less likely to be able to access nutritious foods consistently and reliably, and they are more likely to develop some kind of diet related disease such as diabetes and hypertension due to their inability to access nutritious foods. Her current body of work is focused on the intersections of food as a medical intervention, sustainable agriculture and health policy. Rayna has consulted and participated in a variety of social determinants of health (SDoH) projects across the United States, including the Caribbean.

 

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Unbeknownst to me, I experienced food insecurity as a child. It’s crazy to think I didn’t know I was once food insecure, but it wasn’t until my 2016 TEDx that I realized I blocked out the pain and embarrassment of not knowing where my next meal would come from. Now, as a former food banking executive, urban planner, and food systems leader, I realize that the trauma my family and I experienced is the same episodic cycle many Americans find themselves in daily. Today, more than 41.6 million Americans are food insecure. Even worse, 50% of the population is one sick day away from falling below the Federal Poverty Limit. That means one in two of the population are also at risk of not meeting their most basic needs.

 

My desire is that this current generation breaks the cycle of diet related disease and begins to work in concert together to create a social safety net that works for all. In addition, I envision a movement that is inclusive of and works on behalf of our next generation, so they won't have to be rehabilitated from what we consider dietary norms today. Imagine what we could achieve if we could shift from feeding America to nourishing America.