Expert Resource Directory

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.

MA, founded twenty years ago to create personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. It currently employs over 100 Boston-area teenagers from diverse backgrounds who annually grow, sell, and donate over 250,000 pounds of organic produce. Nationally, the Food Project is helping to build a strong youth movement for just and sustainable food systems. Since 2003, Anim has provided leadership training for over 700 young people and forged a network of 5,000+ young activists and farmers. In 2008, he co-founded the Real Food Challenge, a campaign to re-direct $1 billion of college food purchases away from industrial agriculture towards local, fair, sustainable, and humane sources. Born in Ghana and growing up in West Africa and Washington, DC, Anim holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a B.A. in Astrophysics and History from Williams College.

which she works to provide healthy, locally grown produce to poor working families and the homeless in Central Brooklyn. Reverend Jackson has increased the availability of healthy, organic produce in Bed-Stuy by helping to create a thriving urban farm in a lot which was once used as a garbage dump. The farm grows food that is distributed for free at a local food pantry -- which Rev. Jackson also helped start -- to neighborhood residents who are at risk of hunger and to seniors. The urban farm has also become a community gathering space and a classroom to teach neighborhood youth about food growing and community service. The farm has gained the attention of food activists throughout the city and beyond, and is serving as inspiration for similar projects elsewhere. Rev. Jackson also helped establish a local farmers market where local food vendors sell fresh foods at affordable prices. The farmers market is intentionally based next to a large public housing complex. Through yet another program that Rev. Jackson co-established, clothing and household items are distributed to families in need.

Alliance which centers on developing a grassroots collaborative devoted to bringing about systems change through education and advocacy by community residents and youth in partnership with experts. Her experience includes direct work with community residents, civic engagement and outreach, project management and community development, higher education administration, financial oversight and grant-making.

Rodale Inc. and former executive director of Seed Savers Exchange. He has served on the Lehigh County Agricultural Land Preservation Board, the board of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture and the North American Farmer Direct Marketing Association. An organic farmer since 1984, George and his wife, Melanie, own and operate a diversified vegetable, blueberry, flower and livestock farm near Emmaus, Pennsylvania. He was also a member of the 2002-2004 class of Food and Society Policy Fellows.

implement entrepreneurial methods for addressing the diverse needs of communities. Haile is also the board chair and a founder of the Common Market Philadelphia, a nonprofit distribution program for locally grown food. This collaborative effort of many of the region’s leading food access and local food advocacy agencies has developed distribution infrastructure which connects local farms to Philadelphia’s communities and institutions. The Common Market opened in May of 2008 and is currently supplying Philadelphia area hospitals, universities, public and private schools and eldercare facilities with locally and sustainably grown nutritious foods. The Common Market is “your trusted source for local farm food.” A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Haile has utilized his formal training in entrepreneurial management for social good. Haile is currently the Pennsylvania State Director of the Center for Progressive Leadership (CPL) where he seeks to build on his experience to promote progressive values and improve capacity within diverse communities.

Masachusetts, including Holyoke. Figarella is currently working with the Holyoke Food & Fitness Policy Council as the newly hired project director to implement a community led action plan which aim is to improve Holyoke's food systems, and physical activity of its residents. He previously worked in the emergency food system at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, providing technical assistance to agencies in capacity building.

organizing director for Nuestras Raíces and oversaw community organizing, outreach and leadership development. Colon has developed a gardening program for girls with women gardeners as mentors, developed women’s leadership and entrepreneurship groups, worked on environmental justice campaigns and has served as interim director of the organization. Colon's work contributed to a two-hundred percent rise in voter registration and participation in Holyoke’s Latino community during the 2004 Presidential Election. Colon has served on the Board of Directors of the Valley Opportunity Council for two years.

she created the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative, an inter-governmental collaboration that aims to increase access to healthy affordable food in food deserts in Baltimore City.  Using a multi-sector perspective, Freishtat addresses policy barriers, facilitates new partnerships, and leverages funding to implement innovative solutions to address food access issues in Baltimore. She is a key advocate at the city, state, and federal level for policies to enhance availability of healthy affordable food in Baltimore’s food deserts. Freishtat has spent over a decade working on food issues in a variety of contexts, experiences that have provided her with an understanding of the food system from the perspective of a nutritionist, an educator, and a farmer. Previously, through Washington State University King County Extension, Freishtat founded CHANGE – a farm-to-school program – and developed the program’s gardening and cooking nutrition curriculum. Freishtat’s perspective on the food system is also influenced by her experience working in the agricultural sector. As the Agricultural Marketing Director for Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, she developed a farm-to-healthcare pilot project that provided healthy, seasonal foods to hospitals and retirement communities while creating new markets for farmers. She also worked as the Community Food System Coordinator for the Lopez Community Land Trust, where she coordinated the development of the first USDA-inspected mobile slaughter facility in the country, providing consumers with direct access to local beef, pork and lamb. Freishtat has a Masters of Science from Tufts University in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition. She was a member of the 2007-2008 Food and Society Policy Fellows.

issues. She is currently at work on a book about one town in West Virginia’s struggle to change the way it eats and whether the food revolution can cross geographical, cultural and class boundaries. Jane started her career as a reporter, covering technology and international news at organizations including the BBC and Businessweek Online. But she soon discovered that food was her passion. From 2007 through 2010, she was a staff writer at The Washington Post. Her reporting took her from Immokalee, Florida, where she wrote about tomato pickers’ struggle for better working conditions to Monterey Bay, where she attended a “secret meeting” of the Sardinistas, a group of environmentalists who want to teach Americans about the culinary joys of small fish. Jane's stories try to make people think smart about what and where they eat. She is a member of the 2011-2013 class of IATP Food and Community Fellows.