Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Aryanna Berringer seeks nomination for lieutenant governor
Former Kennett Square resident running as a Democrat
KENNETT SQUARE » A former Kennett Square resident and Iraq War veteran is throwing her had in the ring for the 2018 Pennsylvania Democratic lieutenant governor nomination.
Aryanna Berringer, 34, lives in Murrysville, outside of Pittsburgh, and is a native of Oregon, but she spent years in the borough when her children were elementary school age and attended Greenwood Elementary School.
She and her husband, political consultant Daren Berringer, run a nonprofit — American Nutritional Security — that advocates for fresh and local food served in schools. They have three children ages 12 years, 10 years, and 20 months.
She formerly ran as the Democratic candidate against Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts in 2012. Her last name at that time was Strader.
Berringer said the state’s current lieutenant governor, Michael Stack, has voiced his intent to run again in spite of investigations into his conduct with state troopers who guard them at the state mansion. She will also be up against Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone, who has also declared her intention to run.
Berringer joined the U.S. Army shortly after the 9/11 attacks on America, but not until she overcame about 10 pounds
of excess weight that she was told she had to lose.
“They said I was too fat. I lost the weight, but I did terrible things to lose the weight,” she said.
That included eating unhealthy foods, and, in retrospect, she realized that good nutrition is important not only for herself, but for kids all over the nation.
She cited her situation growing up: She was the youngest of 10 children and the family was poor. They grew up with food stamps and often were in the situation where their electric power was shut off because her mother could not pay the bill.
“I never got an education in nutrition. I realized that lots of kids aren’t getting nutrition education now. In fact, one third of kids 17 to 24 are unfit for military service because of obesity,” she said.
She said she wants to be a lieutenant governor who is actively involved in that cause, and she feels she is especially qualified because of her past. She said she is also biracial and can identify with difficulties that people of color encounter with discrimination.
The company that she and her husband run, aims to meet with school and education leaders and hook them up with local farms for fresh food. She said that is good not only for the nutritional needs of the children, but the local economy as well.
Currently, she said, only 3 percent of school food dollars go to local farmers. The rest goes to big food marketers to deal in large quantities of packaged meals.
“We see (our mission) as an economic opportunity for the state. I think the lieutenant governor office can be an advocacy position,” she said.
She and her family live in a farmhouse in western Pennsylvania, but she has lived and travelled all over the state. In addition to the nutrition nonprofit, she has served on the transition team for veterans and military affairs.
In Iraq she served in combat and in training was even involved in a dangerous situation during which a grenade launcher she was holding failed to discharge the live grenade.
As the daughter of a father who at one time was imprisoned for marijuana possession, she said he could have been persuaded to follow a wiser path if he had experienced better guidance in his youth.
“I wish someone had gotten to him before he made those mistakes,” she said.
In that connection she wants to get involved with the juvenile justice system.
“We don’t have a lieutenant governor who wants to do these things, and in some cases they just use the office as a road to higher positions. I see so much that can be done,” she said.
“If we took a minute to see what the impact of (farm-to-school) is on the budget, people would realize what it means for the community,” she said.