Education
Ph.D., Nutritional Biochemistry, University of California, Davis
B.A., Zoology, University of Washington
Healthy Eating and Active Living Program Manager
Seattle, Washington
Erin MacDougall is a healthy food specialist and scientist dedicated to ensuring a future in which every person has access to healthy food produced in a just and sustainable manner.
With a background as a nutrition scientist studying heart disease, Erin approaches real-world problems with a systems view toward comprehensive solutions. In her public health role, she works with a diverse group of community-based organizations, government agencies, policymakers and community residents to help identify and realize tangible changes for policy and systems to improve the food system and public health for residents in the Pacific Northwest.
Erin is passionate about community gardening in Seattle and appreciates the abundance and diversity of the foods grown and harvested in the Pacific Northwest. She is committed to promoting the work of local chefs and restaurants that focus on procuring and serving locally and sustainably produced foods.
Currently, her food-focused work in Seattle and King County, Washington, includes helping to lead the Kellogg Foundation-funded King County Food and Fitness Initiative and the Puget Sound School Gardens Collective. She is also a member of the Acting Food Policy Council for Seattle and King County. She is committed to improving school food both locally and across the nation, advancing efforts to institutionalize Farm to School and school garden programs. She works to improve access to healthy foods in low-income communities by helping to advance policy efforts for local farms and food harvesters to sell to low-income residents and institutions, while simultaneously promoting economic development through green jobs.
She serves as a National Advisory Board member for Leadership for Healthy Communities, an advisory member to the Western Regional Farm to School planning efforts led by Ecotrust in Portland, OR, and a volunteer board member for the P-Patch Trust in Seattle.
Prior to working in public health, Erin worked as a scientist studying cardiovascular disease, in particular researching the impacts of systemic inflammation on late-stage heart disease. Her commitment to promoting lifelong health for all people comes from her understanding of the origins of chronic diseases and the importance of a healthy diet in preventing them.
