ABOUT US.
The South Dakota Healthy Nutrition Collaborative brings a collective voice to support access to nutritious food, which builds a strong foundation for healthy South Dakota families and communities to prosper.
OUR WHY.
According to the most recent data released in 2024, 106,000 South Dakotans are experiencing food insecurity, including over 24,000 children under the age of 18 and over 30,000 adults over the age of 60. Cancer and Heart Disease, both related to a nutritious diet, are the two leading causes of death in South Dakota.
Food and nutrition insecurity is associated with the underuse of medication due to cost among working-age adults, including those with a chronic condition like diabetes and among the elderly; greater use of health care services like emergency room visits, longer hospital stays; and employee absenteeism and chronic health conditions.
Accessibility, affordability, and consumption of healthy food are critical to consider in rural areas, as approximately 38 percent of S.D. residents live in a census tract where many residents experience lower income and have low access to supermarkets or large grocery stores.
MEMBERS.
STEERING COMMITTEE.
Dr. Geb Bastian – SDSU Extension
Assistant Professor and Extension Nutrition & Health Specialist
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Dr. Bastian’s research and outreach work aims to improve the quality of federally funded community nutrition programs, bolster local food systems, and increase healthy food access in rural and urban communities throughout South Dakota. Dr. Bastian leads and evaluates key SDSU Extension programs including the Dakota Food Rx produce prescription program and the CDC High Obesity Program. He also co-leads a national, award-winning research group that works to improve the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, America’s longest-running federal nutrition education program for families with low income. Dr. Bastian brings a wealth of experience in public health nutrition, research, and community outreach to the Collaborative.
Tony Burke – American Heart Association
State Government Relations Director, North & South Dakota
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Tony is an inspirational senior executive with over 25 years of facilitative leadership experience, who is a proactive, collaborative, community-focused visionary bridge walker with expertise in organizational and community change management. As a Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMPTM), he leads with the values of accountability and kindness by leaning into his certified strengths of strategic, belief, achiever, responsibility, and connectedness.
After serving almost 20 years in the fire service, including a 4-year appointment in Washington DC with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Burn Foundation leading over 300,000 members in the field of burn prevention, advocacy, and survivor support, he committed himself to non-profit work, and service to the community, through his strong desire and understanding change is good. After spending time in the disaster response and recovery sectors, (Public and Private) a complex health care startup, the food bank industry, he joined the American Heart Association in April 2022 with the focus to increase heart and brain health, and health equity, through collective community change efforts and trusted relationship building. He currently serves as the Government Relations Director serving South & North Dakota.
Dr. Preston Renshaw, MD – Avera Health Plans
Chief Medical Officer
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Dr. Renshaw started his academic career by earning his Bachelor of Arts from Doane College. He then went on to earn his medical degree at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, and completed his internship and residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center through the Department of Family Medicine. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine.
Dr. Renshaw earned his Master’s degree in Health Care Quality and Safety Management from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and his Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of Sioux Falls. He has earned the distinction of Certified Physician Executive and has also received Fellowships from the American Academy of Family Medicine, the Academy of Healthcare Management, and the American Association of Physician Executives. Dr. Renshaw is currently finishing his Doctoral degree in Leadership at the University of Sioux Falls. Throughout his career he has published and presented across the nation on the value of health care reform, value-based care, and population health.
Tim Meagher – Vanguard Hospitality
Chief Operating Officer
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An Aberdeen native, Tim began his restaurant career in the mid-1990s as a 16-year-old doing whatever needed to be done in a local pizzeria. He began his management career at a Pizza Hut in Aberdeen and joined WR Hospitality in 2002. He worked first at Minervas in Aberdeen and then as a regional manager up until 2016, when he and business partners formed Vanguard Hospitality.
With a passion for the natural environment, sustainability and all things locally produced, Tim is the driving force behind a growing number of partnerships between Vanguard Hospitality and environmentally conscious farming and ranching operations. Working with producers who use regenerative practices that benefit the environment, his restaurants are supporting the long-term viability of these operations by providing them reliable end markets that help connect their locally produced foods directly with diners.
Deb Fischer-Clemens – DFC Consulting
Founder
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Deb graduated from Mount Marty College with a baccalaureate degree in nursing and has maintained state and national membership in SDNA/ANA since that time. Deb has demonstrated her capacity to lead from the early stages of her career when she became the director of two units simultaneously; an ICU and medical-surgical unit. Her leadership roles prompted her to pursue a master’s degree in health care administration which prepared her to effectively lead and manage the units to which she was assigned.
Deb’s expertise led her to winning a seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives, serving from 1995 to 2000. As a state representative, Deb advocated for policy that positively affected nurses and patient outcomes that has had lasting impacts on South Dakotans. As a result of Deb’s experience as a state representative, she joined Avera Health and launched Avera’s Center for Public Policy.
Stacey Andernacht – Feeding South Dakota
Marketing & Communications Director
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Stacey Andernacht is a non-profit professional who enjoys collaborating, strategizing, and connecting for the purpose of advancing missions that impact change. She began her career at The First National Bank in Sioux Falls supporting the business banking department, before following a call to mission-centric work. Stacey was at Girl Scouts-Dakota Horizons for 10 years where she gained an array of skills in organizational support, board governance, operations, development, and communications while building the female leaders of tomorrow.
A member of Feeding South Dakota’s leadership team, Stacey contributes to strategic planning and has the privilege of elevating the voices of individuals facing hunger through marketing efforts and advocacy work on a state and national level.
Jennifer Folliard - Health + Nutrition First
Founder
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Jennifer Folliard, MPH, RDN, is a registered dietitian who has earned two Bachelor of Science degrees in human nutrition and nutrition in business from Purdue University and her Master of Public Health, specializing in public health policy and systems of care, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Before she founded Health + Nutrition First in 2023, Jennifer spent a decade in Washington, D.C. conducting qualitative research in state and federal policy and advocating for these policies to build effective public health systems.
Jennifer is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of South Dakota, where she teaches public health policy and health systems in the Master of Public Health program. Additionally, she is a doctoral candidate in the University of South Dakota Health Sciences Ph.D. program. Her research will focus on healthcare access and the economic and societal impacts on maternal and child health populations in rural areas.
Irona Howe - Cheyenne River Buffalo Authority Corp
Farm-to-School Representative
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Irona Howe is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (CRST) and works for the Cheyenne River Buffalo Authority Corp as a farm-to-school representative. As part of this work, she has been working with schools to implement buffalo meat on school menus, and nine schools across Lakota have taken advantage of the program.
Irona believes that reintegrating buffalo meat into the diet isn’t just about nutrition; it is a step towards reconnecting with her heritage and ensuring a sustainable food source for future generations. She works towards restoring buffalo populations, which is reclaiming a critical food source and preserving a way of life that has sustained members of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe for generations. Her work to bring the buffalo back means honoring the past, nourishing the present, and securing the future.
Irona is honored and passionate about her role on the South Dakota Healthy Nutrition Collaborative Steering Committee. She believes in providing education about our food and where it comes from and sustaining an economy in which we feed ourselves through education, nutrition, and our natural resources.
