I founded Urban Ag Design just one year ago to provide the agriculture perspective at the planning tables with the industry of City Development. I also serve as Value-Added Agriculture Director at Conservation Research Institute. From 2003 to 2010, I served as Executive Director of Michael Fields Agricultural Institute; Prior to MFAI, I worked with the food division of Itochu, a large Japanese trading company, designing origination programs to connect the Japanese consumer to the American farmer. I currently serve on the Citizens Advisory Council of the UW Center for Integrated Agriculture Systems, the advisory board of the Wisconsin Integrated Faming System Trials and a “thinking partner”/co-project director of the Good to Grow Project, centered in Madison.
I keep a sailboat in Milwaukee on Lake Michigan and intersect frequently with initiatives of the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Milwaukee Public Schools and the Milwaukee Urban Ag Network. I am currently leading the Teutonia Urban Gardens project, a one-half acre garden, which serves as an outdoor classroom for the Academy of Learning and Leadership of Milwaukee. The project also serves as a model for managing city storm water while fostering social healing and economic development. I am also involved with regional food system initiatives in Chicago. The Great Lakes beckon.
