Biography

With a passion for nutrition security, Maria Bowman serves the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank (BRAFB) as the Director of Health Initiatives. As a leader in an organization dedicated to a vision of nourishing food and good health for everyone, every day, Bowman collaborates with the Food Bank’s Food is Medicine initiative to connect individuals with food and resources necessary for healthy lives. Through Food is Medicine and supporting initiatives, the Food Bank aims to improve food security through equitable food access, healthcare partnerships, and health-focused resources for food pantry partners.

Commitment to Health Protection

Bowman’s contributions to the Food Bank and subsequently the Food is Medicine initiative embody the Food Bank’s core beliefs that everyone deserves non-judgmental access to food that sustains life and nourishes health. Her involvement(s) with Food is Medicine and the Food Bank, many of which are described below, are expansive and influential in their success in improving food insecurity:

  • Collaboration with the Food Bank Food Sourcing team to develop Nourish, a nutrition-ranking tool, which was co-developed by the Food Bank and James Madison University. Using this tool, the Food Bank prioritizes nutrition quality as opposed to caloric quantity and aims to provide high-quality nutrition for individuals. Nourish has resulted in an exponential increase in Food Bank’s fresh produce acquisition over the last 10 years, with FY24 yielding purchases of over 9 million pounds of fresh produce for distribution – about 1/3 of the food the Food Bank distributed. Nourish has also helped the Food Bank advocate for and achieve an improved product formulation of a few food items. For example, thanks to this work and our input, a food manufacturer that sells to food banks and dollar stores across the country now offers a low-sodium canned tuna.
  • Lead the Food Pharmacy program, an in-clinic food pantry model that has expanded to include 5 healthcare partners and 20 clinics, serving 14,257 patients with 49,776 pounds of food (62% fresh produce) in FY24.
  • Oversee implementation of the Healthy Pantry Initiative, a health-focused and neighbor-centered initiative that provides tools, training, and grant funding for food pantries. The Food Bank works with a diverse network of about 400 partner organizations (200 food pantry partners and 200 program partner sites) to provide them with resources, tools, and training.
  • Serve as a member of the Health Equity Working Group (HEWG), a group organized by the Federation of Virginia Food Banks that utilizes cross-sector partnerships to collectively prioritize access to nutritious food and improve food security.
  • Serve as a member of the Virginia Food is Medicine Coalition, a group also organized by the Federation of Virginia Food Banks that advocates for Medicaid food benefits.
  • Advocate for policies that support nutrition security. These policies include the Farm Bill, SNAP, WIC, and other USDA-funded nutrition programs.

Personal Statement

“I believe that policies, systems, and environments play a powerful role in community food access and community health. These elements can feel big and abstract but their influence impacts real people in real ways. This is why I’ve chosen to spend my time advocating for nutrition security programs and food is medicine interventions in our service area and across Virginia. I am passionate about decreasing the barriers community members face when accessing nutritious, culturally familiar food because I believe food is not only necessary fuel; it’s security, health, heritage, and joy.”

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