W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Speakers

Richard Coombe

Richard Coombe earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in Economics from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Richard is a beef and crop farmer, businessman, economist, speaker, and public servant. He continues to work on the farm that has been in his family for three generations. He was a professor at Sullivan County Community College and from 1982-92 was a member of the New York State Assembly. He has received a variety of awards including: the US EPA Region II Environmental Quality Award for protecting and enhancing environmental quality, the Sullivan County Soil and Water District's Conservation Farmer Award, and the Environmental Action Coalition Green Star Award. Dick is a member of the Watershed Protection Partnership Council and the US EPA National Drinking Water Advisory Council. He serves as the Chair and CEO of the Watershed Agricultural Council, Inc.

Richard Coombe
Chair & CEO
Watershed Agriculture Council
33195 State Highway 10
Walton, NY 13856
Phone 607-865-7790
Fax 607-865-4932
E Mail ricoombe@catskill.net

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Craig Cox
Craig began his career in natural resources in 1977 with a B.S. degree in wildlife management from the University of Minnesota. He joined the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as a field biologist in 1977 and eventually directed a program of land and water resource management in the Minnesota State Park System. In 1987, Craig accepted a fellowship from the University of Minnesota to complete an M.S. degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics, specializing in natural resource and environmental policy. He graduated in 1989 and moved to Washington D.C. to accept a position as Senior Staff Officer with the Board on Agriculture of the National Academy of Sciences. He directed three major studies, including Soil and Water Quality: An Agenda for Agriculture and Rangeland Health: New Methods of Classifying, Inventorying, and Monitoring Rangelands. In 1994, Craig left the Board on Agriculture to join the staff of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. On the committee, Craig was the lead staffer for natural resource and environmental issues and helped develop much of the conservation title of the farm bill that was passed in March 1996. In March of 1996, Craig joined the Natural Resources Conservation Service as a Special Assistant to the Chief where he was responsible for policy development and a number of special projects. In 1998 Craig served as Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment in the Department of Agriculture. He is currently Executive Vice President of the Soil and Water Conservation Society — a professional society dedicated to promoting the art and science of natural resource conservation.

Craig Cox
Executive Vice President
Soil and Water Conservation Society
7515 N.E. Ankeny Road
Ankeny, IA 50021-9764
Phone 515-289-2331 x19
Fax 515-289-1227
E Mail craigcox@swcs.org

Jonda Crosby is an agriculture program manager for Montana-based Alternative Energy Resources Organization (AERO). Jonda works with farmers and ranchers, retailers and consumers in Montana to localize and revitalize Montana food system. She has 18 years experience working with communities, farmers and institutions to incorporate sustainable agriculture practices and principles on their farms and in their communities. Jonda also farms part-time (certified organic) in the Helena Valley of Montana and grows specialty seeds and irrigated hay. Before coming to AERO, Jonda worked as a project coordinator for a W.K. Kellogg Foundation four-year food systems initiative at Penn State University. She has also been a Cooperative Extension agent for Cornell Cooperative Extension, taught high school vocational agriculture and been an instructor for the Agricultural Economics Department at Penn State University. Jonda grew up on a purebred Holstein dairy farm in Western New York and still owns cattle in the family business. She has an agronomy undergraduate degree and an M.S. in agricultural education.

Jonda Crosby
Sustainable Agriculture Program Manager
Alternative Energy Resources Organization
432 North Last Chance Gulch
Helena, MT 59601
Phone 406-443-7272
Fax 406-442-9120
E Mail jcrosby@aeromt.org

Dr. Foster is Vice President for programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich. His programming duties include guiding Foundation efforts in food systems, rural development and leadership. Dr. Foster also serves on the Executive Team that provides overall direction and leadership for the Foundation. Specific programming initiatives for which he is responsible include: Integrated Farming Systems, Food Systems Professions Education, Managing Information with Rural America, Mid South Delta Initiative, People and Land, and the Kellogg National Leadership Program.

Dr. Foster joined the Foundation in 1991 as a visiting professional while on sabbatical leave from the University of Nebraska, where he served as a professor of agricultural education. Prior to joining the Foundation as a visiting professional, he worked in international development activities at the School of Agriculture for the Humid Tropics (E.A.R.T.H.) in Costa Rica. Dr. Foster was selected for a staff position as a program director in 1992 and appointed vice president in 1995.

Previously, Dr. Foster taught at Iowa State University, the University of Idaho, and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln between 1976-1992. He also was a Group VIII Kellogg National Fellow from 1987 to 1990.

Dr. Foster received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in agricultural education from Iowa State University in Ames. He has received many awards and honors, including the E.B. Knight Award from the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture for outstanding scholarly publication (1990-91). He was recognized with the Distinguished Teaching Award (1987) and the Outstanding Young Professor (1990) at the University of Nebraska. He was cited as the Outstanding Student Advisor at the University of Idaho (1983). He has received distinguished service recognition from the National FFA organization, the Iowa State University Alumni Association, the National Board on Agriculture and the College of Education

Rick Foster
Vice President of Programs
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
1 Michigan Avenue
Battle Creek, MI 49017-4058
Phone 616-968-1611
Fax 616-968-0413

Ramon Gomez, a Trustee of The Food Project in Boston, Mass., is currently a junior at Boston College, majoring in information systems and computer technology. Ramon started with The Food Project in 1994 as a Summer Program Crew Worker, and subsequently held the position of Assistant Crew Leader and Office Intern. He was voted on to the Board of Trustees in 1996. He is deeply committed to The Food Project work in neighborhoods and is interested in starting a non-profit organization in the future.

Ramon Gomez
Trustee on Board
The Food Project
P.O. Box 705
Lincoln, MA 01773
Phone 781-259-8621
Fax 781-259-9659
E Mail gomezra@bc.edu

Pat Gray, Executive Director of The Food Project in Boston, Mass. is a graduate of Boston College. She is experienced in teaching and in grass roots political organizing. She started work at The Food Project in 1991 as a founding staff member, and is now primarily involved in organizational management and capacity building, funding, and new initiatives. Ms. Gray is also working toward creating greater interest and capacity in issues of sustainable agriculture, food security, and urban agriculture through a new National Youth Network and on a local level through her participation on the Steering Committee of the Greater Boston Food System Coalition.

Patricia Gray
Executive Director
The Food Project, Inc.
10 Lewis Street
P.O. Box 705
Lincoln, MA 01773
Phone 781-259-8621 x 15
Fax 781-259-9659
E Mail patgray@thefoodproject.org

Hal Hamilton is Executive Director of Sustainability Institute in Hartland, Vt. He is also coordinator of the Learning Communities Project. He has helped found and lead national coalitions and networks for sustainable agricultural policy as well as coordinating research and training teams in the southern United States. He has written chapters in three books on agricultural policy and change. He is active in developing an eco-village and diversified farm, now marketing cheese, eggs, organic vegetables and maple syrup.

Hal Hamilton
Director Sustainability Institute
P.O. Box 342
Hartland, VT 05048
Phone 802-436-2333
Fax 802-436-1003
E Mail hhamilton@centerss.org

As Founder and Chairman of The Hartman Group, Harvey Hartman oversees the company's various market research, management consulting and marketing services. He currently consults on a wide range of topics concerning American cultural change and how consumer activities impact daily business products and services for a wide range of sectors, including, amongst others, the natural products marketplace, the alternative healthcare and mainstream healthcare market, food and beverage industries, and personal care sectors.

Harvey has taught courses on environmental business and marketing strategy at the University of California, Irvine Graduate School of Management, and the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, the University of Washington Graduate Business School, the UCLA MBA Program, and many other prominent institutions. He has co-authored a number of publications and books, including several major studies and research initiatives with a focus on the natural products marketplace and the cultural and lifestyle changes of the consumer. Harvey recently authored Marketing to the New Natural Consumer: Understanding Trends in Wellness, a book that focuses on the new changing dynamics of wellness and key forces driving the growth in the natural products industry. Harvey also works with the New York-based nonprofit Mothers and Others for a Livable Planet and has consulted to numerous government and NGO Organizations such as the EPA, FDA, USDA, World Wildlife Fund, Co-op America, The Food Alliance, and the Corporation for the Northern Rockies.

Prior to forming The Hartman Group in 1989, Harvey devoted his career to the high technology industry where he served in senior executive positions for Fortune 500 companies. He holds a B.S. in Business and Marketing from St. Louis University.

Harvey Hartman
Founder
The Hartman Group, Inc.
1621 SE 114th Avenue #105
Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone 425-452-0818
Fax 425-452-9092
E Mail harvey@hartman_group.com

Richard Harwood has held the C.S. Mott Chair for Sustainable Agriculture position at Michigan State University since 1990. The Chair provides leadership in research, teaching and extension of sustainable agricultural systems for Michigan's agriculture. He brings national and international perspectives to Michigan from his current service on the Boards of Agriculture and Sustainable Development (NRC), on the Technical Advisory Committee (CGIAR) and as former Chair of the Board of Management (TSBF).

Richard is an agronomist with a personal research interest in the management of soil biological activity for enhancement of nutrient flow. Ongoing research includes the contribution of cover crops to soil biological activity and to nutrient flow. He was director (Research Center) at Rodale and subsequently director (Asian Program) at Winrock International prior to his arrival at Michigan State University.

The mission of the Chair is to provide leadership in research, teaching and extension of sustainable agricultural systems for Michigan's agriculture. The Chair encourages and assists in development and extension of a range of technologies, which enhance farming systems integration, improve their production efficiency and reduce their adverse impact on the environment. Systems integration for pesticide reduction and for enhanced nutrient efficiency are central to that work. The management of soil biological activity for enhancement of nutrient flow is a key personal research area. Ongoing research includes the contribution of cover crops to soil biological activity and to nutrient flow.

Richard Harwood
C.S. Mott Chair of Sustainable Agriculture
Michigan State University
Crop and Soil Sciences
Department 260
Plant and Soil Sciences Building
East Lansing, MI 48824-1325
Phone 517-432-1611
Fax 517-353-3834
E Mail rharwood@msu.edu

Chuck Hassebrook is Program Director of the Center for Rural Affairs of Walthill, Neb. The Center is a nationally recognized research, advocacy and rural development organization that promotes family farming and sustainable development for agricultural communities. Hassebrook serves on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and is its immediate past chair. He served on former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman's National Commission on Small Farms and was vice chair of the USDA Agricultural Science and Technology Review Board. Hassebrook is a University of Nebraska graduate and a native of Platte Center Neb., where his family is engaged in farming.

Chuck Hassebrook
Program Director
Center for Rural Affairs
101 South Tallman Road
Walthill, NE 68038
Phone 402-846-5428
Fax 402-846-5420
E Mail chuckh@cfra.org

Hank was born and raised in San Jose, Cal. His father would not let him join a pachuco jacket gang in junior high school, so he set his sights on medicine instead. He wandered around the Berkeley campus of the University of California for four years, earning his Bachelor’s degree in English. He attended Creighton University Medical School in Omaha, Neb., where he got involved in community organizing around health issues in the African American, Mexican American and Native American communities. He did his internship in Medicine at Baltimore City Hospitals and residency in Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He served two years in the US Public Health Service, most of that time developing programs to increase Hispanic enrollment in health science schools. Hank was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at Hopkins. He has served on the faculties of the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, and the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He received the Kellogg National Fellowship in 1985. Hank maintains a private practice of psychiatry in Rochester.

Hank is actively engaged in neighborhood revitalization work in the predominantly African American and Puerto Rican neighborhoods in the northeast quadrant of Rochester, N.Y. He has served on the board of directors of a number of community-based organizations, including Partners Through Food, a group that successfully advocated to bring a new supermarket into the community. Hank co-founded and now works as Planner/Development Specialist for the NorthEast Neighborhood Alliance (the NENA), a comprehensive neighborhood development initiative. The NENA serves as the Sector Planning Committee for Sector 10 in the City of Rochester’s Neighborhoods Building Neighborhoods Program. In 1996, the Hispanic Leadership Development Program of Rochester’s United Way awarded Hank with its annual Hispanic Leadership Development Award. In 1997, Hank was elected to the first Board of Directors of the Community Food Security Coalition, a national organization devoted to achieving full food security for all Americans.

Henry Herrera
Lake County Development Corp
Mission Mountain Market Project
319 Main Street
Ronan, MT 59864
Phone 406-676-5901
Fax 406-676-5902
E Mail lccd@ronan.net

Oran Hesterman is Program Director for Food Systems and Rural Development programming at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan. In this role, he provides primary leadership to the Food & Society Initiative. His key responsibilities include domestic planning and development, reviewing and assessing new proposals, and managing active projects.

Previously, Dr. Hesterman researched and taught forage and cropping systems management, sustainable agriculture, and leadership development in the Crop and Soil Sciences department at Michigan State University in East Lansing. From 1987-1990, he was a fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program (KNFP). Dr. Hesterman was a fellow at the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy in Washington, D.C. In the area of sustainable agriculture,Hesterman has authored or co-authored more than 400 reports and journal publications.

Hesterman earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of California-Davis in plant science/vegetable crops and agronomy, respectively. He received his doctorate in agronomy and business administration from the University of Minnesota, in St. Paul.

Oran Hesterman
Program Director
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
1 Michigan Avenue
Battle Creek, MI 49017-4058
Phone 616-968-1611
Fax 616-968-0413

June Holley

June Holley is President and Founder of the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet), a community economic development organization in southeastern Ohio committed to building a healthy and sustainable regional economy based on economic justice, self-determination, and respect for diversity. With the ACEnet staff, she has pioneered the implementation of flexible business networks, sectoral incubators, a community online network, and a youth entrepreneurship program. In 1991, she was selected by Ohio Governor Voinovich to be inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame. In 1996, she attended the UN Conference on Women held in Beijing, China. An avid researcher, she has co-authored over 30 papers and two books on various aspects of economic and community networking. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Ohio Magazine, Entrepreneur, In Business and many other publications.

June Holley
President/CEO
Appalachian Center for Economic Networks
94 N. Columbus Road
Athens, OH 45701
Phone 6740-592-3854
Fax 740-593-5451
E Mail juneh@acenetworks.org

Gail Imig

Gail Imig is Program Director for Food Systems and Rural Development at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. In this capacity, Gail develops and reviews programming priorities and initiatives related to food systems professions education and leadership development for institutional change in higher education, evaluates and recommends funding proposals, and administers projects. In addition, she provides leadership for initiatives, conducts on-site evaluations of proposed projects, and maintains her professional contacts in the areas of higher education, human development and family studies and rural and community development.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Gail was Associate Vice Provost at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Earlier she was Director of Michigan State University Extension. In these roles, she chaired the National Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP), served on the National Association of State Universities and the Land-Grant College Commission on Outreach and Technology Transfer, and contributed to a Michigan State University Interdisciplinary Rural Family Poverty Research Team and Social Capital Interest Group.

She earned her doctorate degree from Michigan State University with a major in family ecology and a minor in higher education and administration. From the same university, she earned a master’s degree in family studies and sociology and a bachelor’s degree in home economics and biology education. Among her professional affiliations are the American Home Economics Association, Epsilon Sigma Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta, and the National and Michigan Councils on Family Relations. Gail has been awarded numerous grants in support of her work with youth and families, university outreach, and community development, and is the author of many professional papers and publications.

Gail Imig
Program Director
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
1 Michigan Avenue
Battle Creek, MI 49017-4058
Phone 616-968-1611
Fax 616-968-0413

Fred Kirschenmann

Fred is President and General Manager of Kirschenmann Family Farms, a 3500-acre organic grain and livestock farm in south central North Dakota and Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. After a fifteen-year career in higher education, culminating as the academic dean at Curry College in Boston, he returned to the family farm to convert it to an organic farm. Fred remained there until July 2000 when he assumed the executive director duties at the Leopold Center. While he still serves as General Manger of the farm, the day-to-day operations are now in the hands of a new, young team of three farmers.

Fred Kirschenmann
Director Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Iowa State University
209 Curtiss Hall
Ames, IA 50011-10500
Phone 515-294-3711
Fax 515-294-9696
E Mail leopold1@iastate.edu

Kate Larson

Kate is operations manager and produce broker for Red Tomato, a not-for-profit produce marketer and distributor whose purpose is strengthening small family farms and increasing all peoples' access and awareness of fresh fruits and vegetables. She is also a director. Before Red Tomato (1997-1999), Kate was food security program director and an organic certifier for the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT). Prior background includes community organizing, sales and marketing, youth mentoring and strategic development for private and public organizations.

Lee has been involved with Community Development Projects in Lake County since 1992, responsible for developing and managing several housing, infrastructure and economic development projects throughout the area. As a board member of Montana Economic Development Association and chair of the Advisory Council for the Montana State Microbusiness program, she has been actively involved with local and State community development organizations helping to design public policy regarding community development issues, working regularly with funding agencies, engineers, municipalities and peer groups. As Executive Director of Lake County Community Development Corporation and a County-wide Housing Organization, she has been the primary project administrator overseeing the development of the Mission Mountain Market Project, the regional food business incubator, as well as such programs as a $1 million dollar community-based revolving loan fund; a business assistance center providing entrepreneurial training and mentoring for area new and expanding small businesses; a visitor's center and outdoor performing arts theater; construction and management of 89 units of affordable rental housing; first-time home buyer and home-owner housing rehabilitation projects; urban revitalization project plans and infrastructure programs in five communities. Prior to returning to her Montana roots, she had acquired a broad background in corporate and non-profit companies which includes responsibilities spanning division management, fiscal administration, project management, marketing and strategic planning, job-site and construction supervision; small business consulting; personnel management and team development.

Billie Lee
Executive Director
Lake County Development Corp.
Mission Mountain Market Project
319 Main Street
Ronan, MT 59864
Tel: (406) 676-5901
Fax: (406) 676-5902
E-mail: 1ccd@ronan.net

Sarah Lynch

Sarah Lynch is a Senior Program Officer at World Wildlife Fund (the real WWF) and coordinates the Agriculture Pollution Prevention Program. Her work focuses on identifying strategies for collaborating with agricultural interests to accelerate adoption of economically viable production systems that reduce environmental and social impacts of agricultural production. She directs WWF's ecolabel initiative developed in collaboration with the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Grower's Association.

Prior to joining WWF in the summer of 1997, Sarah worked as an economist at the Economic Research Service of USDA and the Henry A. Wallace Institute For Alternative Agriculture. She also has overseas experience having worked in several West African countries on agriculture and economic development issues. Other significant positions held by Sarah include farm worker at Maple Avenue Farms, Oreo cookie inspector at NABISCO, and runner at the Chicago Board of Trade. Sarah has a Ph.D. from Cornell University and a Masters from Michigan State University in Agricultural Economics.

Sarah Lynch
Senior Program Officer
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-Fourth Street. NW
Washington, DC 20037-1132
Phone 202-778-9781
Fax 202-530-0743
E Mail sarah.lynch@wwfus.org

Theresa Marquez's specialty is marketing Natural, Organic and Specialty Foods and Farming. Since 1978, she has worked for retail stores, manufacturers, environmental groups, farmers and private foundations. Her career began in retailing natural and organic foods as a store manager, a buyer and a marketing director. For three years she worked under a Kellogg Foundation grant which helped sustainable and organic farmers explore and develop niche markets for their products.

Marquez joined CROPP as Marketing and Sales Director in 1994 and has helped to grow the business from $5 million in sales to $100 million projected 2001 sales. She is knowledgeable on all aspects of the organic industry from marketing to certification. Marquez has served on the Organic Trade Association Board of Directors and the Oregon Tilth Certification Advisory Board. She has been a guest speaker for numerous groups including the Natural Products Expo, the National Nutritional Foods Association, the American Marketing Association, the Food Marketing Institute, the Northwest Provender Alliance and the Oregonian.

Theresa Marquez
Organic Valley™ Family of Farms
CROPP Cooperative
507 West Main Street
LaFarge, WI 54639
Fax: 608-625-2600
Toll-free Phone: 888-444-6455
E mail organic@organicvalley.com

Rogers Morris

Rogers Morris is a sweet potato farmer and member of the Mound Bayou Potato Growers Cooperative and former member of its Board of Directors. Presently, he is Chairman of the Sweet Potato Growers Community Development Corporation with the responsibility for the development of curing, washing and storage facilities for handling sweet potatoes. In addition to his main crop of sweet potatoes, Morris grows soybeans. He has an undergraduate degree in biology from Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, and a Masters degree in environmental health from the University of Cincinnati. Morris and his wife, DeVoyce, have four sons.

Rogers Morris
President Sweet Potato Growers Corp
106 Green Mound
Bayou, MS 38762
Phone 662-741-2992
Fax 662-741-2990

Marion Nestle

Marion Nestle has been Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University since Fall 1988. Her degrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley. Her first faculty position was in the Department of Biology at Brandeis University. From 1976-86 she was Associate Dean of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, where she directed a nutrition education center sponsored by the American Cancer Society, and taught nutrition to medical students, residents, and practicing physicians. From 1986-88, she was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services, with principal responsibility as managing editor of the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. She has been a member of the FDA Food Advisory Committee and the USDA/DHHS 1995 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, and chaired the American Cancer Society committee that issued dietary guidelines for cancer prevention in 1996.

Currently, she is a member of the Science Board to the FDA. Her research focuses on analysis of the scientific, social, cultural, and economic factors that influence the development, implementation, and acceptance of federal dietary guidance policies. She is the author of Nutrition in Clinical Practice (Jones Medical Publications, 1985). She also is the author of Food Politics, to be published in 2002, and The Politics of Food Safety and Biotechnology to be published in 2003, both by University of California Press.

Marion Nestle
Professor Department of Nutrition & Food Studies
New York University
35 W. 4th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10012-1172
Phone 212-998-5595
Fax 212-995-4194
E Mail marion.nestle@nyu.edu

Margaret O'Dell

Program Officer
Joyce Foundation
70 W. Madison, Suite 2750
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone 312-782-4160
Fax 312-782-4160
E Mail modell@joycefdn.org

Dr. Shari Plimpton has recently joined the faculty and staff at OSU in Columbus, Ohio as an adjunct assistant professor in Food Science & Technology. She also serves as Program Manager for Industrial Outreach with the Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT), Toledo. In this capacity, Dr. Plimpton works as a technical consultant with ACEnet (Appalachian Center for Economic Networks) in Athens, Ohio. Dr. Plimpton assists in this capacity with small food business product development and providing access to academic resources at OSU, as well as new technological developments.

With 15 years of experience in the food industry in research, product development and business development, Dr. Plimpton has worked with companies such as Pillsbury, Sandoz Nutrition (Novartis), Godiva Chocolatier and Kraft Foods. Plimpton’s background includes microwave technology, frozen foods, chocolate products, instant dry blends and ingredients, nutritional and nutraceutical product development, business development and operations management. Her previous experience as General Manager of a small food manufacturing company lends to her understanding of small business development issues.

Shari Plimpton
Adjunct Assistant Professor
The Ohio State University
110 Parker Food Science & Technology Building
2015 Fyffe Court
Columbus, OH 43210-1007
Phone 614-247-6819
Fax 614-292-0218
E Mail shari.plimpton@eisc.org

Ted Quaday

Program Director
Farm Aid
11 Ward Street, Ste. 200,
Summerville, MA 02143
Phone 617 354-2922
Fax 617 354-6992
E Mail ted@farmaid.org

Mark Ritchie

Mark Ritchie is the President of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and serves as the policy consultant to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's new Food and Society Initiative. For the past 30 years he has been active in a wide range of campaigns on environmental, health, hunger, and social issues ranging from the Nestle Boycott in the 1970s to current campaigns addressing trade and globalization, human, plant and animal genetic engineering, human health threats from factory farming and aquaculture, and the economic destruction of rural communities in the U.S. and abroad.

Mark Ritchie
President
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
2105 1st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Phone 612-870-3400
Fax 612-870-4846
E Mail mritchie@iatp.org

Michael is Founder and Managing Director of Red Tomato, a not-for-profit marketing organization whose purpose is strengthening small family farms, and increasing all peoples' access to and awareness of farm fresh fruits and vegetables, with a strong emphasis on ecologically-grown fruits and vegetables. In 1985, he co-founded and served as director of marketing for Equal Exchange, a fair trade cooperative business that trades directly with Small farmer coffee cooperatives in Latin America. Before Equal Exchange, 1981-1985, Rozyne was head buyer and marketing manager for Northeast Cooperatives in Brattleboro, Vermont. Between 1978-1980, he was marketing manager for Estabrook Farm in Yarmouth, Maine, a diversified vegetable and greenhouse operation.

Michael Rozyne
Managing Director
Red Tomato
251 Revere Street
Canton, MA 02021
Phone 781-830-9412
Fax 781-830-0282
E Mail mrozyne@equalexchange.com

Gus Schumacher, Jr. is the former Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Gus was responsible for the domestic commodities, insurance and farm credit operations of USDA. In addition, he was in charge of USDA's international trade and development programs. Prior to his appointment in August 1997, he was the Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service for 3 years. Before coming to USDA, Mr. Schumacher served as the Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture and at the World Bank. From a farm family in Lexington, Massachusetts, Mr. Schumacher attended Harvard College and the London School of Economics and was a Research Associate in Agribusiness at the Harvard Business School.

August Schumacher
1332 29th Street NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone 202-965-2928
Fax 202-337-0767
E Mail gussch@aol.com

Michael Shuman

Michael Shuman, a Stanford-trained attorney, is Chief Program Officer for the Village Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia, and runs its Institute for Economics and Entrepreneurship. He also directs three other institutions: Community Ventures Consulting Group LLP, which helps cities and companies improve their economic, environmental, and economic performance; the Green Policy Institute, which undertakes public policy research and writing related to sustainable communities; and ProgressivePubs.com, which markets directories and publications of interest to the nation's progressive community. He has written, co-written, or edited six books, including most recently, Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Routledge, 2000). He has written over a hundred articles for periodicals like The Washington Post, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Foreign Policy, Parade, New York Times, The Nation, Chronicle on Philanthropy, and Foundation News. Shuman also has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, such as The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour and NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and is a periodic commentator on NPR's "All Things Considered." He has given an average of a talk a week for nearly 20 years, including invited lectures or paid consultancies in eight countries, 20 cities, and at 21 universities.

Michael Shuman
Institute for Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship
3713 Warren Street, NW
Washington, DC 20016

Jan Tusick lives on an 80-acre certified organic farm in the Mission Valley of northwest Montana with her husband Will and son Joey. The farm supports a 150 head ewe herd and produces grass fed natural lamb, certified organic garlic and market produce. Currently, she works with the Mission Mountain Market Project, a community based project of the Lake County Community Development Corp. The Mission Mountain Market Project has developed a shared use community kitchen and processing center for specialty food and added value product development of the regions agricultural production. As the agricultural enterprise and cooperative development specialist for the project she works with the local community in the business development, cooperative formation, value added ventures such as juicing of apples and development of natural beef products and other agricultural enterprises. She holds a BS degree in Agricultural Sciences for Cal Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, California. Her work experience includes the management of Montana Private Capital Network, a nonprofit company that linked entrepreneurs with venture capital, a school clerk for Valley View School, a public school district, and the manager of The Framer, a picture framing business. Jan is active in her local community through 4-H, Valley Ice Sports Assoc. and is a board member of AERO, a statewide sustainable community/agriculture membership organization.

Jan Tusick
Ag Enterprise, Cooperative Development Specialist
Lake County Development Corp
Mission Mountain Market Project
319 Main Street
Ronan, MT 59864
Phone 406-676-0676
Fax 406-676-0677
E Mail jt@ronan.net

Bill Vorley has a background in ecology, trained in the farm fields of southern England and SE Asia. After eight years working in agribusiness, he has continued his research interest in the 'greening' of industry ever since. Bill spent 3 years at the Leopold Center in Ames, Iowa working with Dennis Keeney as visiting scientist, after which he joined the Institute for Agriculture Trade and Policy in Minneapolis, Minnesota as director of the Environment and Agriculture Program. He moved to London in 1998 to join the International Institute for Environment and Development, with a focus on policy and market research for sustainable agriculture and rural development. He is a member of the Bruges Group, which has as its main task feeding a real public debate on the development of agriculture, food and the rural world in Europe, so that agriculture can become more closely aligned with citizen expectations. Bill is also working with collaboratively to set up a transatlantic process of research and advocacy around multifunctional agriculture.

William Vorley
Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Program
International Institute for Environment & Development
3 Endsleigh Street
London, England WC1HODD
Phone 44 207-388-2117
Fax 44 207-388-2826
E Mail bill.vorley@iied.org

In October 1999 Greg was named the first Program Director for the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. From 1995 to 1999 he served as executive director of the Dudley Street neighborhood Initiative. Prior to that he has been with: Second Nature as its Director of Educational Programs; The Nature Conservancy's Eastern Regional Office as its Director; Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture as Commissioner. Prior to that, Greg was the Executive Director of the New Alchemy Institute. In 1983, he was appointed Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Affairs, a post he held until 1989. From 1983 through 1986 he also served as Deputy Director of the Massachusetts Centers of Excellence Corporation. He became the first Director of the Massachusetts Office of Science and Technology in 1986. Greg serves on the board of directors of Ocean Arks International and the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture. He attended Tufts University where he majored in Civil Engineering. He also developed a self-directed program in Environmental Design Science at Campus-Free College in Boston.

Greg Watson
Director
Massachusetts
Renewable Energy Trust
75 North Drive
Westboro, MA 01581-3340
Phone 508 870 0312
E Mail watson@mtpc.org

Acting Director
USDA Office of Outreach
Washington, DC
Phone: 202 690-3507
E Mail: Melvin.weil@usda.gov

Terri Wright is a program director for health policy at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. Ms. Wright develops and reviews the Foundation’s health programming priorities and initiatives, evaluates and recommends proposals for funding, and administers projects and initiatives. She also assists in public policy analysis and related program development, as well as the Foundation’s devolution initiative.

Previously, Ms. Wright was maternal and child health director and bureau chief at Child and Family Services at the Michigan Department of Community Health in Lansing, Mich. While there, Wright managed 165 full-time employees and a budget of $300 million, with the goal of reducing preventable maternal, infant, and child morbidity and mortality. Ms. Wright received her bachelor’s degree in community and school health, as well as her New York State certification in secondary school education from City University of New York. She received her master’s of public health degree in health planning and administration from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Ms. Wright takes an active leadership role in several professional associations. Currently, she is a board trustee of the Michigan Women’s Foundation, and is board director of the Michigan AIDS Fund. In addition, she is a member of the American Public Health Association and the Michigan Public Health Association.

Program Director
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
1 Michigan Avenue
Battle Creek, MI 49017-4058
Phone 616-968-1611
Fax 616-968-0413

Program Officer
Jesse Smith Noyes Foundation
6 East 39th Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-684-6549
Fax: 212-689-6549
E Mail: kolu@igc.org