Ryanna Gamble Battiste, second child to Steve and Kate, Heartbeat founders, is thrilled to be part of the missions work that has driven her parents joy for giving the past 2 decades and that she has had the privilege to plug into at various important junctions in her life.

In 2003 she traveled to Senegal as part of the inaugural group Friends to Africa and had the life-changing experience of seeing how the rest of the world really lived. It caused her to re-think the trajectory of her life and ultimately leave her unfulfilling NYC job and lifestyle for a slower and more intentional pace of the South.

In North Carolina she is raising 2 sons with her supportive husband and growing The New School Kitchen, a nutrition based business that helps people change their lives and heal their bodies with nourishing Real Foods.

She is a Duke Certified / Board Certified Integrative Health Coach and knows first hand how integral nourishment is for any human to function at their best and show up in the world the way God intended for them to, utilizing their gifts and demonstrating love every day.

The growing and evolving Taste & See ministry, with it’s Food Truck parked and ready to go in front of her house and Grocery Box ministry in full force every weekend is giving Ryanna a renewed sense of purpose for her work in the world.

Poor nourishment leads to a poor physical, mental, and spiritual state.

She believes that if we can become well in our bodies and minds then the earth, our children, our communities, and our food and health systems can also begin to heal.

It all comes down to nourishment, good quality food is not a privilege, it’s a basic human right.