Speakers, "HOME GROWN ECONOMY"

Ken Meter, president of Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis, holds 35 years experience in community capacity building as a researcher, journalist, educator, and administrator. His pioneering local economic analyses have helped spark local development in rural and urban locales across the U.S. Meter also coordinated public process and indicator development for the city of Minneapolis sustainability plan. Meter taught the economic history of U.S. agriculture at the University of Minnesota, and serves as an economic and strategic advisor to the Aldo Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Robert Marqusee

Rob Marqusee is the first Director of Rural Economic Development for Woodbury County, Iowa - Sioux City is the county seat; a position recently created (on March 21, 2005) to reverse economic declines in the rural areas of the county.

Rob has been an attorney since 1979 and is licensed to practice law in the states of California, Colorado, and Iowa. He holds a LL.M. in Taxation (Masters in Tax Law) from the University of Denver, a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Denver (Phi Beta Kappa), and received his law degree from Seattle University. Rob practiced law in Santa Barbara, California for 13 years.

Born in New York City, he was raised in Boca Raton, Florida where his family was engaged in economic development activities. His father has been vegetarian and an organic and natural food advocates his entire life, which has had a significant impact on Rob's lifestyle.

Rob has 5 children and presently resides in Sioux City, Iowa.

Robert P. King is Professor and Head of the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on management issues facing food retailers, farmer cooperatives, and farmers and on the impacts new information technologies are having on the food system. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on managerial economics. He is also active internationally, having lectured in Brazil, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, and Poland over the past several years.

Rob serves on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA), and he has worked on several recent projects concerning sustainable agriculture and local food systems. He is a co-author of Collaborative Marketing: A Roadmap and Resource Guide for Farmers and Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Business. He is currently participating in a USDA-funded study on the value of eco-labels in conveying information on food production practices to consumers.

Frederick L. Kirschenmann

Frederick L. Kirschenmann, a longtime leader in national and international sustainable agriculture, is Distinguished Fellow for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. From July 2000 to November 2005, he served as the Center's second director since its creation in 1987. Kirschenmann came to the Center from south central North Dakota where he operated his family's 3,500-acre certified organic farm. He continues to oversee management of the farm and has an appointment in the ISU Department of Religion and Philosophy.

Kirschenmann holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago, and has written extensively about ethics and agriculture. He has held national and international appointments, including the USDA's National Organic Standards Board. In 2006, he was appointed to the 19-member National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production operated by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and funded by Pew Charitable Trusts to conduct a two-year examination of key aspects in the farm animal industry.

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was created by the Iowa Legislature to develop sustainable agricultural practices that are both profitable and conserve natural resources. Since his appointment to the Center, Kirschenmann has been s a frequent speaker, engaging audiences to help shape a new vision for agriculture. New Center directions include research initiatives in marketing and food systems, ecology and policy.