Sarah & Bryce Hach
Founders, Maine Food for Thought
The restaurant scene in Portland has become globally renowned for its’ innovation and quality. But there is also an important and vibrant story behind the plate that interconnects the land, the sea and the people of Maine, that have made it, over time, into the celebrated food destination it is today. Maine Food for Thought Co-Founders, Bryce and Sarah Hach, will discuss how they saw the medium of local, sustainably sourced and harvested food as a vehicle to tell the rich stories of the Maine food system and blend their interests to be lifelong learners with their professional backgrounds in the education, conservation, economic development, public policy, and nonprofit sectors.
Their tour seeks to advance a greater sense of community, responsibility, and the joy that comes from eating a remarkable meal and knowing more about one’s relationship to the food, the farmer, the forager, and the source. The tours use Maine food as a lens to delve into larger societal issues such as immigration, climate change, and the unique differences between rural and urban communities. The goal is that attendees go forward with a deeper understanding and sense of responsibility related to their food decisions, and how those choices impact the health of localized economies, ecosystems, people and communities. Discover how they are trying to create change, one forkful at a time.
Bryce Hach is originally from Iowa and grew up in Colorado. After graduating from Colorado College in 1998, Bryce became a public high school science teacher and football coach in the Mississippi Delta with Teach For America in a county with one of the lowest per capita income levels.
Bryce then completed the Coro Public Policy Fellows program in St. Louis, an intensive one-year fellowship in public policy leadership, working in leadership roles in multi-sectors and then completed a Masters of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University.
In 2004, Bryce moved back to Colorado, and took the role of Executive Director of a private science foundation where he oversaw the transition from supporting local scholarships and outreach in chemistry to becoming a national leader in high school chemistry education. After this, Bryce served as Executive Director of a multi-sector collaborative effort to reduce homelessness in Fort Collins, Colorado.
In 2013, Bryce and his family made an intentional move to Falmouth, Maine. In 2018, Bryce left his post as a director at Maine Audubon and teaching a graduate course in nonprofit and public management at the Muskie School, to start Maine Food for Thought with this wife. In addition to these professional roles, Bryce is also a graduate and active member of the Maine Master Naturalist Program and serves on Board of Directors for state and national organizations.
Bryce and his wife, Sarah, love living in Maine and have a ten-year old daughter, Ivy, and an energetic puppy named Sammy and live in Falmouth, Maine
Sarah Hach is the Co-Founder of Maine Food for Thought and has 20 years of project management, public policy, economic development, communications, event management, and political experience in the philanthropic, education, business and government sectors.
Sarah most recently served for 3+ years as the consultant/project manager for the economic development initiative, FocusMaine, through her consulting firm, Anchor Consulting Maine. FocusMaine’s mission is to strengthen and revitalize opportunity and prosperity in Maine by accelerating the growth of jobs in select signature industries (agriculture, aquaculture and biopharmaceuticals) that have high potential to create Maine jobs on a sustainable basis.
Prior to her role at FocusMaine, Sarah was the Community Programs Director for the Bohemian Foundation in Fort Collins, Colorado where she directed the strategy for the organization’s annual community investment to initiatives related to youth, education and family economic security.
Additional professional experience includes serving as the Northern Colorado Director for the Office of Economic Development for Colorado State University, Director of Business Retention and Expansion for the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation, Project Manager for the University of Westminster/Smithsonian Institution Nobel Laureate Initiative in London, senior level positions for political campaigns and elected officials and as a research associate for urban theorist Dr. Richard Florida on his book The Flight of the Creative Class, while completing her Master of Science in Public Policy and Management degree at Carnegie Mellon University.
Sarah resides in Falmouth, Maine with her husband, Bryce, and ten-year-old daughter, Ivy.