The Food Almanac

PANELIST BIOS

Mary Cleaver (@TheCleaverCo), one of the country’s foremost authorities on sustainable food and local sourcing, is the founder and owner of The Cleaver Co., The Green Table (@GreenTableNYC), Table Green & Table Green Café (@TableGreenNYC) in New York City and Green Table Farm in Hartford, NY. Mary founded The Cleaver Co., a full- service event planning and catering operation in 1986. The Green Table - opened in 2003 - is a farm-to-table restaurant in the Chelsea Market, committed to seasonal cuisine. In spring, summer and fall Cleaver Co operates kiosks at The Battery bringing a local focus to concession-style food and drink. In November 2011, Mary was named the first-ever “Snailblazer” by Slow Food NYC to honor her contributions creating a better, healthier food system for all. Her current board affiliations include Hawthorne Valley Farm, Slow Food NYC Advisory Council, the Glynwood Advisory Council, Chef’s Council for Emma’s Torch, GreenWave Advisory Council, and the High Line Corridor Pneumatic Waste-Management Initiative. She was a founder of the Farm to Chef network. Mary lives in Brooklyn, NY. and gets to the farm whenever possible.

Mary Jo Dudley (@CaRDICornell @CornellCALS) is the Director of the Cornell Farmworker Program (a collaborative effort of CALS, CHE and CCE), and a faculty member of the Department of Development Sociology. She has extensive research interests in immigrant workers, farmworkers, US-Latin American relations, migration from Latin America to the US, and immigrant communities in the US. She is currently involved in capacity building within the farmworker community in New York State. She is also engaged in research on farmworker contributions, farmworker perceptions about life in their new communities, farmworker empowerment, and gender and participation. Current research with farmworkers and farmers examines how to improve workplace relations. Mary Jo was selected for the 2012 White House Champions of Change Cesar Chavez Legacy award. In 2015 she was awarded the George D. Levy Engaged Teaching and Research Award at Cornell University.

Pam Koch (@Pam_Koch @TischFoodCenter) works at the intersection of sustainable food systems and nutrition education. She has written, evaluated, and conducted professional development for several curricula including: the Linking Food and the Environment (LiFE) curriculum series: Growing Food; Farm to Table & Beyond, and Choice, Control & Change; Food Day School Curriculum; In Defense of Food Curriculum; Art & Healthy Living with Studio in a School, and Seed to Plate with GrowNYC. Pam was part of the team who developed the Garden Resource Education and Environment Nexus (GREEN) Tool to create school gardens that are well-integrated into the curriculum and culture. She has led several evaluations including Edible Schoolyard NYC, FoodCorps, Wellness in the Schools, and New York City Food & Fitness Partnership. She is part of the School Food Focus team who is developing Recipes for Food System Change, professional development modules for school food service to procure more sustainable, regional, whole, and healthful foods. Pam contributed to Dr. Isobel’s Contento’s DESIGN Procedure for Nutrition Education. Pam is part of the Environmental and Sustainable Education working group at Teachers College, is an organizer for the Food & Farm Justice Hub of the 2014 and 2017 People’s Climate March, and has been a member of Roxbury Farm CSA for over 20 years. Pam brings passion, dedication, and her flare for graphic design to all she does.

Reana Kovalcik (@ReanaMK @SustainableAg) supports the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's policy and grassroots efforts by translating challenging policy language into digestible communications and by providing the development support needed for robust fundraising. Reana grew up in the Chicago area and earned her BA in Urban Policy from DePaul University. She later moved to NYC, where earned her MA in Urban Policy Analysis from The New School for Public Engagement. While at the New School Reana developed an interest in food and farm policy, and helped launch the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management graduate program. After graduating, Reana served as Legislative Aide for Food Policy under former New York City Council Member –and current Manhattan Borough President– Gale Brewer, with whom she helped develop NYC’s first package of local food sourcing legislation in 2011. Following her time at the NYC Council, Reana worked with NYC-based non-profit organization, Wellness in the Schools, where for five years she helped to create and promote healthier school food and fitness programs and policies.

Josh Morgenthau (@JoshMorgenthau @FishkillFarms) is the owner and operator of Fishkill Farms, a Hudson Valley family farm in operation since 1913. He produces eco-certified apples and orchard fruit, organic berries, vegetables and pastured poultry on 150 acres of land. Since 2008, Josh has overseen the farm’s expansion, putting 100 acres of land back into production, starting a 400 member CSA, attending five local farmer’s markets, and expanding the store and pick-your-own operations. In 2009, Josh and his family permanently conserved the 270 acre property with assistance from the state and Dutchess Land Conservancy. Most recently, Fishkill Farms has begun producing craft hard cider using homegrown apples, and is planning out the construction of an on-farm cidery and tasting room. Josh serves on the board of the the Hudson Valley Agricultural Research Laboratory, on Glynwood Advisory Committee, and American Farmland Trust’s New York Council.

Margot Pollans (@MPollans @PaceEnviroLaw) is an Assistant Professor at the Haub School of Law at Pace University and Faculty Director of the Pace-NRDC Food Law Initiative, a collaboration of Pace Law and the Natural Resources Defense Counsel dedicated to increasing access to legal services for mission-oriented farmers, food businesses, and food justice NGOs. Prior to joining the Pace faculty, she was the inaugural academic fellow at UCLA School of Law’s Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy. Previously, Margot was a Staff Attorney and Clinical Teaching Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Public Representation. Following law school, Margot clerked for the Honorable David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She holds a JD from New York University School of Law, an LLM from Georgetown University Law Center, and a BA from Columbia University. She writes about environmental regulation of food production and is currently coauthoring a casebook on Food Law and Policy.

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