Last year, Maddie Earnest ’91 left the not-for-profit world to start a small grocery store called Local Harvest Grocery focusing on locally grown and produced foods. Local Harvest was named the best gourmet grocery in St Louis in the 2008 Sauce Magazine Readers' Poll.
The store focuses on organic and sustainably produced groceries, including dry goods, perishables, frozen and non-food items, with a goal of having 50 percent of their products from within 150 miles of the St. Louis area. Her nearby restaurant was recently rented to host a VIP event by leading Hollywood environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. because of the local produce and green ethos she employs.