Expert Resource Directory

specializing in food, nutrition, and health. Manning, former associate administrator of the Food and Consumer Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, managed the largest school food service training and technical assistance effort ever undertaken by the USDA. The $24 million program was designed to support USDA School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children. She was also a member of the 2003-2005 class of Food and Society Policy Fellows.

relationship between food and culture and the emergence of the contemporary food system. Presently her research concerns the increasing importance of the taste of place for farmers, chefs, vintners, cheesemakers and others both in Europe and the United States. She is also looking at how people's cooking knowledge and skill in the United States plays a role in individual health. She was also a member of the 2002-2004 class of Food and Society Fellows.

the Center for Food and Justice, a division of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Calif. In this capacity, Joshi provides training and assistance for farm to school program development and evaluation. Joshi is also leading a national collaborative with over 30 organizations across the country to explore partnerships for promoting the farm to school movement. Joshi has over ten years of experience working on nutrition, agriculture and food systems issues in various countries around the world.

Responsibility at Sodexo. He leads the company’s sustainability efforts in North America, including sustainable food and agriculture practices, eco-efficiency and facilities management, community development, and health and wellbeing. Before joining Sodexo in November 2007, Arlin Wasserman founded Changing Tastes, a consultancy that provides strategic planning, economic development and marketing strategy insights to Fortune 100 and start-up food companies, foundations, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations working to issues of public health, food, environment and community development. Wasserman is also a co-founder of The Robin Hood Center, a not-for-profit organized to create and manage branded food enterprises for the benefit of charities focusing on the alleviation of hunger and poverty. He was also a member of the 2002-2004 class of Food and Society Fellows.

throughout the South to champion the rights of small farmers and ensure their livelihoods through a movement known as food sovereignty. Even after his own farm was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Ben worked with local farmers to develop a rebuilding plan and minimize the disruption. On a broader level, by influencing federal, state, and local policy, Ben is building the framework to sustain a new generation of small farmers, especially farmers of color. Ben, currently the director of the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, has been a farmer since 1973. He is a board member of the Crescent City Farmer’s Market in New Orleans; secretary/manager of Indian Springs Cooperative located in Petal, Mississippi; vice president of the National Family Farmers Coalition; Vice President of Community Food Security Coalition; and a board member of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group. He has traveled extensively to Africa, South America, and Europe to learn more about sustainable agricultural practices.

specializes in commodity program reform, rural development policy, research and extension, rural revitalization, and higher education. Hassebrook has been with the Center for 30 years, developing strategies for rural revitalization, devising farm program payment limitations and enhancing federal funding for rural programs. The Center for Rural Affairs has helped nearly 5,000 small businesses get started or survive, and has assisted in the development of nearly one dozen cooperatives.

2010, he has written about his own observations of rural landscapes and communities, humorous farm stories, and resilient farm folks for a weekly column called Farm to Family, originally published in the Cedar County News in Nebraska. Arens recently discontinued his colums after accepting a position as a regional editor for Farm Progress Publications, visiting farms and ranches and interviewing agriculture professionals, writing mostly for Nebraska Farmer and Dakota Farmer magazines. He was also a member of the 2003-2005 class of Food and Society Policy Fellows.

Extension. He currently works in El Dorado County, set in the foothills of the Sierras and bordering the rapidly growing Sacramento metropolitan area. Dan's focus is on agricultural literacy, helping citizens to understand and appreciate sustainable agriculture in the nation's most populous state. He has also done extensive research in the area of garden-based learning and believes gardens can be an effective strategy for introducing children and families to ecology, the food cycle, nutritious diets and healthy lifestyles. He was a member of the 2004-2006 class of Food and Society Policy Fellows.

books including: Heirlooms, Letters to the Valley, Four Seasons in Five Senses, Harvest Son, Epitaph for a Peach and Wisdom of the Last Farmer. A third generation farmer, Masumoto grows peaches, nectarines, grapes and raisins on an organic 80 acre farm south of Fresno, California. Masumoto is currently a columnist for and The Fresno Bee. He was also a member of the 2006-2008 class of Food and Society Policy Fellows.