Working in social media has taught me how powerful a good photo or social media post can be.

A colorful display of vegetables, a trending TikTok sound accompanied by a heartfelt video, or a perfectly styled farmers market picture can inspire someone to stop scrolling and that's a really good thing.

But behind every photo is a much bigger story.

Behind every tomato is a farmer.

Behind every beautifully curated picture of ripe peaches is early mornings, long days, unpredictable weather, and months of hard work.

Those are the stories that deserve just as much attention.

I started working for Feast Down East three months ago. Since joining this beautiful team, I have started to look at these photos a little bit differently.

Instead of just seeing a beautiful basket of produce, I now find myself thinking about everyone and everything that made this photo possible.

Someone prepared the soil. Someone planted the seeds. Someone worked in the heat. Someone harvested those crops at the perfect time.

Being able to capture the beauty within these photos and videos that tell these farmers' stories brings me so much joy. I feel incredibly lucky to be part of an organization where I can share the mission of Feast Down East with our community and help raise awareness about the importance of shopping local, eating local, and supporting local. Knowing that these stories can inspire more people to connect with localfarmers and strengthen our local food system makes the work even more meaningful.

At the end of the day, it's about more than the perfect picture. It's about how I can share the feeling behind it with people and the community,and making sure everyone has the opportunity to enjoy fresh, local food.

– Kaylee Heuring, Marketing Coordinator at Feast Down East