U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree has landed on a list of the “Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink” for her efforts to reform the nation’s food policy.

Pingree was No. 2 on the list of 25 women compiled by two national magazines, Fortune and Food & Wine, just behind Ertharin Cousin, the head of the United Nations World Food Programme. The women who made the list, Fortune said, are “permanently changing the way we eat and how we think about food.”

The magazines said Pingree understands the issues facing farmers better than most since she owns an organic farm herself on North Haven. They cited her work on the federal farm bill championing measures that would benefit local, sustainable agriculture.

“Through her work on the 2014 Farm Bill, she has tripled the amount of money allocated for farmers’ markets and local-food programs,” celebrity chef and food activist Tom Colicchio, who is friends with Pingree, said in Food & Wine.

Other women who made the list include Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest; Annette Alvarez-Peters, who oversees Costco’s wine business; and Joanne Wilson of Gotham Gal Ventures, who invests in food-related tech startups.


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