Tara Garnett

Organization: Food Climate Research Network, University of Surrey

Areas of Expertise:
Greenhouse gas emissions and the food system

Livestock industry and meat production

Media Experience: Television, print, radio

Bio: Tara looks at the contribution that our food consumption makes to UK greenhouse gas emissions and the scope for emissions reduction. Her focus is on both the technological options for tackling food-GHG emissions and consumer behaviour around food, examining both within the context of UK and international policy. Tara also runs the Food Climate Research Network. This brings together over 800 individuals from the food industry, research institutions, civil society and government and across a broad range of disciplines to share information on issues relating to food and climate change.

Publications:
See http://www.fcrn.org.uk/frcnResearch/index.htm
and http://www.fcrn.org.uk/researchLib/PDFs/wise_moves.pdf

Websites: www.fcrn.org.uk

Contact Information: taragarnett[at]blueyonder.co.uk

Anna Lappé

Organization: Small Planet Institute, Take a Bite Out of Climate Change Campaign

Title: Founding Principal and Author

Areas of Expertise: Greenwashing in the food industry, climate-friendly diet, citizen movements, globalization of factory farming/intensive animal agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions and the food system

Bio: Anna Lappé is a national bestselling author, whose work focuses on food systems and sustainability. She is a sought-after public speaker and the co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund. Lappé’s writing has been widely published in newspapers and magazines, including The New Scientist, Los Angeles Times, International Herald, and Washington Post. She has appeared on dozens of radio and television programs and is the host of MSN’s Practical Guide to Healthier Living and a co-host of The Endless Feast, a 13-part series airing this spring on PBS. Ms. Lappé lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Publications:
Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet (J.P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2006)

Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen (J.P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2006)

“Homegrown Hope,” Anna Lappé, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 19, 2008

“Think Globally, Act Locally,” Anna Lappé and Jennifer Wilkins, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 17, 2007

For a full list of articles, op-eds, and other writing, visit www.annalappe.org.

Websites: Take a Bite; Small Planet Institute; and Eat Grub.

Contact Information: anna[at]smallplanet.org

Mia MacDonald

Organization: Brighter Green

Title: Executive Director

Areas of Expertise: Globalization of factory farming/intensive animal agriculture; climate-friendly diet; Animal agriculture production and practices; effects of global warming in the global south (developing countries); citizen movements; international development policy; gender and environment

Bio: Mia MacDonald is Executive Director of Brighter Green, a new action tank working to transform public policy and dialogue on the environment, animals, and sustainable development, both globally and locally, with a particular focus on equity and rights. A policy analyst and writer, she has worked as a consultant to a range of international non-governmental organizations—including the Ford Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund, the Green Belt Movement, the Sierra Club, and Save the Children as well as several United Nations agencies, among others. She has published many articles in popular and environmental media, authored a number of policy papers and reports, and contributed to three books. She is also a senior fellow of the Worldwatch Institute. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Publications:
The 2007 Farm Bill: A New Vision for Agriculture, Food Production and Healthy Eating (Brighter Green/Farm Sanctuary, 2007): www.brightergreen.org/files/farm_bill_white_final.pdf

“Worse for Climate Than Cars: Eating Meat,” (Oregonian, December 2007): www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1198896904111530.xml&coll=7

Websites: www.brightergreen.org

Contact Information: macdonald[at]brightergreen.org

Joe Mendelson

Organization: Center for Food Safety

Title: Legal Director

Areas of Expertise:
Greenhouse gas emissions and the food system
Citizen and consumer movements for climate-friendly food and farming
Climate-friendly diet
Greenwashing in the food industry
Livestock industry and meat production
Media coverage of climate change and food

Bio: Joseph Mendelson, III is co-founder and legal director for the Center for Food Safety. His legal advocacy focuses in three primary areas: food safety, sustainable agriculture, and environmental protection. Through his work, Mr. Mendelson developed and initiated the first legal case in the U.S. seeking the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. He served as co-counsel throughout the case as it was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and resulted in the landmark global warming ruling of Massachusetts v. EPA. Prior to CFS, Mr. Mendelson directed Friends of the Earth’s stratospheric ozone protection project and worked as a staff attorney for the Foundation on Economic Trends.

Publications:
“Untested, Unlabeled, And You’re Eating It,” contributing essay in Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture (Island Press, 2002)

“Patently Erroneous: How the Supreme Court’s Decision in Farm Advantage Ignores Congress and Threatens the Future of the American Farmer,” The Environmental Law Report, Spring 2002.

“Should the FDA Adopt a Stricter Policy on Genetically Engineered Foods?,” Congressional Digest Monthly, March 2001.

Websites:
www.centerforfoodsafety.org
www.icta.org

Contact Information:
Joemend[at]icta.org
(202) 547-9359

Roni Neff, PhD SM

Organization: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for a Livable Future

Title: Research Director

Areas of Expertise:
Greenhouse gas emissions and the food system
Climate-friendly diet
Media coverage of climate change and food
Food system and public health

Bio: Dr. Roni Neff is Research Director of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for a Livable Future. The Center focuses on intersections between diet, food production, environment and public health. Dr. Neff is working on several social science projects related to food contributions to climate change, and moderates a Google networking group on the topic. She received her PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, and AB from Brown University.

Publications:
Neff RA, Chan I, Smith KC. “Yesterday’s dinner, tomorrow’s weather: Today’s news?” [Contact Dr. Neff for paper]

Websites: www.jhsph.edu/clf

Contact Information:
rneff [at] jhsph.edu
(410) 614-6027

Danielle Nierenberg, M.S.

Organization: The Humane Society of the United States

Title: Animal Agriculture and Climate Change Specialist

Areas of Expertise:
Animal agriculture production and practices; impacts of meat, egg, and dairy production on the environment; greenhouse gas emissions and the food system; biofuels; urban agriculture; food safety.

Bio: Danielle Nierenberg, an expert on animal agriculture and sustainability, serves as Animal Agriculture and Climate Change Specialist for the Humane Society of the United States, leading efforts to mitigate the meat, egg, and dairy industries’ effects on global warming, and collaborates as a Senior Fellow with the Worldwatch Institute. Her knowledge of factory farming and its global spread has been cited widely in the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune, the Washington Post, and other publications. Danielle worked for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic and currently supports Washington, D.C. farmers markets. She holds an M.S. in agriculture, food, and environment from Tufts University and a B.A. in environmental policy from Monmouth College.

Publications:
Global farm animal production and global warming: impacting and mitigating climate change (Environmental Health Perspectives, 2008)

An HSUS report: The impact of animal agriculture on global warming and climate change (HSUS, 2007)

Happier Meals: Rethinking the Global Meat Industry (Worldwatch Institute, 2005).

Websites: www.hsus.org/farm/

Contact Information: dnierenberg[at]hsus.org

Corrina Steward

Organization: EcoResource Consulting and Coaching

Title: Founding Principal

Areas of Expertise: biofuels, greenhouse gas emissions and the food system, human rights and the environment, deforestation, sustainable development, agribusiness

Bio: Corrina Steward is a respected expert on sustainable development and global conservation management. She has published academic and popular press articles on agribusiness, globalization and biofuels. Her research on soybean development in Brazil was the first-ever paper to expose the relationship between soy farmers, agribusiness, small farmers and deforestation in the Amazon. She advises on environmental issues and is a personal coach to environmental and social entrepreneurs, professionals and leaders. Ms. Steward is a graduate of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Publications:
Fueling Disaster: A community food security perspective on agrofuels (Community Food Security Coalition, 2007)

Towards a Green Food System: How food sovereignty can save the environment and feed the world (Grassroots International and Food and Water Watch, 2007)

From Colonization to “Environmental Soy”: A case study of environmental and socio-economic valuation of soy in Amazon soy frontier (Journal of Agriculture and Human Values, March 2007)

Elements of Sustainability: Food, Energy, Water and Climate in the 21st Century (EcoResource Consulting, 2008)

Websites: www.ecoresourceconsulting.com

Contact Information:
csteward[at]ecoresourceconsulting.com
617-616-5767

Helene York

Organization: Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation

Title: Director

Areas of Expertise: Greenhouse gas emissions and the food system, climate-friendly diet, what chefs can do to minimize their impact, university-based programs to reduce food-related carbon emissions

Bio: As project manager of Bon Appétit Management Company’s Low Carbon Diet (LCD) Program, Helene York has been researching the connection between the food system and climate change since November 2005. Using best available science, she guided the development of 20 procurement and operational initiatives aimed at reducing the carbon emissions of Bon Appétit Management Company’s onsite restaurant operations nationally by 25% over three years. The initiatives include eliminating air-freighted seafood, introducing more low-trophic species in menus, reducing the volumes of beef and cheese served daily.

Publications: See www.circleofresponsibility.com

Websites: www.circleofresponsibility.com

Contact Information: helene.york[at]bamcf.org