Lisa M. Keefe is a self-described “factory geek” who loves to see how the pieces of a humming processing plant come together. She joined Meatingplace as editor in 2008 and has since led the editorial team to 14 Jesse H. Neal Awards and numerous other editorial honors. She also authors The Center of My Plate blog on meatingplace.com, where she offers commentary on the news and issues of the day affecting the meat and poultry industry. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Says Keefe, “I’m always awed by the way people and machinery and computers come together in a plant. And, manufacturing is the foundation of our economy: At the end of the line, something ‘real,’ that you can hold and cook and eat, is sent out into the world. That is powerful in a way that no other kind of business is.”