R. Leah Pryor, Executive Chef Manager/Co-Founder of Culinary Medicine Program at UVMMCChef Leah started her culinary career in 1994. She graduated the Culinary Institute of America with her AOS in culinary arts in 2000. She promptly took the Chef position at Fog Island Cafe where she ran the kitchen and externship program teaching young cooks the ways of from scratch, high-volume breakfast and lunch cookery. She followed her passion for food to Vermont and took the chef position at Mary’s Restaurant Inn at Baldwin Creek. She worked closely with Chef/Owner Doug Mack who started the Vermont Fresh Network in 1996, way before farm-to-table was a movement. In 2010 Chef Leah decided to make a change and went to work for the University of Vermont Medical Center. In 2017 she was awarded a UVMMC Foundation grant where she has been able to create the Chef Educator role and expand Culinary Medicine at UVMMC. In 2020 she was promoted to Executive Chef Manager of Nutrition Services where she empowers her staff to challenge the traditional idea of food service as well as taking on the role of Co-Founder of the Culinary Medicine Program at UVMMC.