Eden Hughes grew up surrounded by a love for food. From sitting on a wooden stool in her Ukrainian grandmother’s kitchen watching her cook to rolling up her sleeves helping her father behind the scenes of his Cajun catering company to getting her hands dirty with her mother tending to their garden — she didn’t have a choice really, the appreciation for food was infused in her from day one. After attending the University of Rhode Island, Eden moved to San Diego where she by no surprise found herself in the food scene. It started out with bouncing around a well-known natural food grocer for 12 years working in the marketing and events department, specialty food buying, managing the vitamin department, and ultimately as the Metro Associate Store Team Leader. It was during those years that she was introduced to Berry Good Food, specifically the Berry Good Night series of fundraising dinners. She took on a role working with the Farmers and Chefs helping to procure the locally grown produce and proteins for the events. She was immediately hooked on all that the organization was striving for and hasn’t stopped volunteering since. After working in sales for a natural pet food company and managing a locally owned wine and coffee bar, she took on a role as Director for a San Diego-based Receivership — specializing in court-appointed fiduciary services, business operations, business plan development, liquidations, and property management. She holds California Real Estate sales, California Professional Supervised Visitation Provider, and California Ordained Ministry licenses, and a certificate in Crystal and Gemstone Healing. In August 2023, nearly 10 years after falling in love with Berry Good Food, Eden accepted a part-time staff position as Foundation Coordinator, and also serves on the Board as the Events Committee Chair. In her free time, you can find her cooking, working on her new garden, reading, playing with gemstones and essential oils, traveling with her husband, and hanging with her dog Louie.