GLOBAL VIEWS OF LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS

Rami Zurayk is professor in the department of landscape design and ecosystem management at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He studied at the American University of Beirut and at Oxford University, UK. His current work is at the nexus of food, landscapes, and livelihoods. His proficiency areas include local food systems and sustainable livelihoods, sustainable agriculture and agroecology, food sovereignty and food security, rural community development, and civil society action.

VIEWS  FROM THE FOOD SYSTEM FRONTIER

Joseph McIntyre is president of Ag Innovations Network, a California-based NGO that leads collaborations between agriculture, environmental, health, and community interests to improve the food system. Trained as both an economist and an organization development professional, his focus is on sophisticated change processes that engage food system leaders.

METRICS FROM THE FIELD

Ken Meter is president of Crossroads Resource Center and a leading food system analyst. His work integrates market analysis, business development, systems thinking, and social concerns. Ken serves as a consultant to the USDA, the EPA, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and manages the grant review panel for USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program. Ken is an associate of the Human Systems Dynamics Institute, and has taught the “Economic History of U.S. Agriculture” at the University of Minnesota and graduate-level Microeconomics at the Harvard Kennedy School. As a member of the American Evaluation Association, Meter is active in the Systems Technical Interest Group and wrote a chapter entitled “Systems Concepts in Evaluation: An Expert Anthology.” He also writes occasionally for Successful Farming magazine, Edible Twin Cities, Grist, and Cooking Up a Story.

THE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER

John Ikerd is professor emeritus of agricultural economics, University of Missouri, Columbia. John was raised on a small dairy farm in southwest Missouri and received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. He worked in private industry for a time and spent 30 years in various professorial positions at North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Georgia, and the University of Missouri before retiring in 2000. Since retiring, he spends most of his time writing and speaking on issues related to sustainability with an emphasis on economics and agriculture. Ikerd is author of Sustainable Capitalism, A Return to Common Sense, Small Farms are Real Farms, and Crisis and Opportunity: Sustainability in American Agriculture. More complete background information and selected writings are available at web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj.