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

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: Worldwatch Institute

Title: Senior Researcher and co-Project Director, State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet

Areas of Expertise:
Sustainable agriculture production and practices; impacts of meat, egg, and dairy production on the environment, primarily climate change, animal welfare, and farmers; greenhouse gas emissions and the food system; biofuels; urban agriculture; food safety.

Bio: Danielle Nierenberg, an expert on livestock and sustainability, currently serves as Project Director of State of World 2011 for the Worldwatch Institute (www.NourishingthePlanet.org), a Washington, DC-based environmental think tank. Her knowledge of factory farming and its global spread and sustainable agriculture 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 volunteers at farmers markets, the Earth Sangha (an urban reforestation organization), and Citizen Effect (an NGO focused on sustainable development projects all over the world). She has spent the last year traveling to more than 25 countries across sub-Saharan Africa looking at environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger and poverty. 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)

“Meat and Seafood: The Most Costly Ingredients in the Global Diet,” in Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2008 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008).

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

Websites: http://www.NourishingthePlanet.org

Contact Information: dnierenberg[at]worldwatch.org

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