Board Members

Alison Leber - President

Alison Leber is a self proclaimed food geek. She is passionate about real food. Alison is the Program Director of the Flagship Program – a not-for-profit project of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese/Pasta & Co/Bennett’s/Pure Food Bistro in Seattle, Washington.
The Flagship Program is dedicated to educating people on benefits of pure, all-natural foods through nutrition education workshops in elementary schools through out the Puget Sound and Portland areas.
Alison is the former owner of Brie & Bordeaux – Bistro, Cheese & Wine shop in the Seattle area. The French influenced bistro utilized local, seasonal ingredients before it was in vogue and the Cheese & wine shop specialized in local and imported farmstead cheese.
Her background includes stints in Seattle-area restaurants such as Café Juanita and Gerard’s Relais de Lyon, and in the wine industry – from the making to the selling!

Bruce Dunlop - Vice President

Bruce Dunlop currently operates a small, diversified livestock farm and specialty food business on Lopez Island, WA. During the past several years he has been actively involved with starting a livestock processing farmers cooperative and led the development, construction and testing effort of the first USDA Inspected on-farm livestock-processing unit. Assisting other communities to follow in their footsteps and rebuild the small-scale meat-processing infrastructure needed by independent farmers is his major focus today.

Prior to his idyllic life as a shepard he worked in the food processing industry and on the development and manufacturing of biological pesticide products. A graduate of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario he has degrees in Biology and Chemical Engineering.

Carol Cooper - Secretary

Carol Cooper grew up in the suburbs of Bethlehem, PA - surrounded by corn fields and small farms.  Watching field after field give way to housing developments like the one she lived in instilled in her the passion to save farmlands. Her professional life hasn't worked out exactly the way she thought, and she ended up working for Metro focused on sustainable transportation issues, which is really still related to farmland preservation - land use patterns and transportation are inextricably linked.  She loves being able to contribute to the viablility of local farming through her efforts with the Cascade Harvest Coalition.

Bob Hilgenberg - Treasurer

Why does Cascade Harvest Coalition interest a retired public planner with 39 years of planning and director experience in four states?  Well, let’s call it “getting hooked on” or convinced of the potential pay-off of such a “radical” yet engaging concept that conservatives, progressives and liberals can get behind.  That concept and mission, “BUY LOCAL-EAT LOCAL farm products to benefit all in the region or state” is the foundation of the Cascade Harvest Coalition.

My strong interest in farming started (unknowingly) while growing up in northeastern Wisconsin.  Whether it was caused by never living more than 100 feet from a farm or the 100,000 cans of peas or corn a day I canned while running the filling machine at the local cannery I still do not know.  At any rate, I spent most of the next 43 years preparing for and performing county (and one city) planning and agency management in four mid-western and western states (Missouri, Iowa, Idaho and Washington).  All four jobs dealt with resource land including farms and farmland and a large variety of land use and community elements.  My projects during the last 13 years were with the Snohomish County Planning Department.  Initially, I prepared and defended the agricultural element of our comprehensive plan.  From 2000 to 2004 I worked with King County staff in final design, start-up, operation and monitoring of the Puget Sound Fresh, FarmLink and other multi–county farmer assistance programs.  Upon retirement from Snohomish County in 2004, I was accepted as board member of Cascade Harvest Coalition continuing to serve at present.

Seth Caswell

Chef Seth Caswell understands the importance of farmer and chef connections.  Critical to this healthy relationship is the ability to listen to the needs of both parties and develop flexibility and an appreciation of each group’s hardships.  Through extensive volunteer work and his work in Seattle restaurants, he has emerged as a leader in promoting the use of local and sustainable products from the Puget Sound in local restaurants. As President of Seattle Chefs Collaborative, he strives to educate diners, chefs, and co-producers about issues of sustainability. For Seth, supporting local farms means altering menus to accommodate what is seasonal and locally available.  He plans on opening Emmer Restaurant in the spring of 2009 in Seattle.

Goldie Caughlin