The Cornucopia Institute Adds Staff, Announces Board Election Results
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The Cornucopia Institute, a national farm and food policy organization based in Wisconsin, has added a new member to its board of directors. At its recent annual meeting in St. Paul, the board elected Mitch Blumenthal to a two-year term on the board. Mr. Blumenthal is the President and Founder of Global Organic/Specialty Source, Inc., one of the most significant organic distributorships in the Southeast United States.
Celebrating its 15th year in business, the company’s mission is to get organic foods into as many mouths as possible. Mr. Blumenthal is a resident of Sarasota, Florida. In 1995, he purchased ten acres of organic farmland on which he continues to grow vegetables, fruits, herbs, and specialty items at Blumenberry Farms.
The board also reelected three other board members to two-year terms: Kevin Engelbert, the nation’s first certified organic dairy farmer from Nichols, New York; Dave Minar, the former dairy producer and owner of the organic Cedar Summit Dairy in New Prague, MN; and Goldie Caughlan, now retired from her work as education director at the nation’s largest co-op grocer, PCC Natural Markets in Seattle, WA. Both Mr. Engelbert and Ms. Caughlan are also former members of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB).
Cornucopia’s board reelected Helen Kees as president. Ms. Kees is a certified organic beef and fresh market vegetable producer from Durand, WI. Mr. Engelbert was reelected vice-president. Roger Featherstone, an environmental activist and director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition was reelected treasurer. Mr. Featherstone resides in Tucson, AZ. Dr. Barry Flamm, a natural resource and environmental consultant and organic cherry producer, was reelected board secretary. Dr. Flamm lives in Polson, MT and is a former chairman of the National Organic Standards Board.
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Cornucopia’s board of directors also added two new members to its policy advisory panel. Amanda Love, a professional chef, joins the team of advisors. Known as “The Barefoot Cook”, Ms. Love is a Certified Healing Food Specialist, a natural foods chef, and nutrition educator. She lives in Austin, TX and remains in a leadership role at the organization having previously served on Cornucopia’s board.
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Fellow Texan Cameron Molberg has joined Cornucopia’s policy advisors as well. Mr. Molberg is the CEO and general manager of Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill and Farm. Coyote Creek runs the only certified organic feed mill in Texas and operates the largest certified organic pasture-based chicken farm in the state. He additionally served as treasurer of the Texas Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (TOFGA) from 2010-2015.
In the first quarter of 2015, Dr. Jérôme Rigot joined Cornucopia as a farm and food policy analyst. Dr. Rigot resides in Maine and is an agricultural researcher and organic certification professional, with broad experience in organic farming, specialty crop production, composting and the culinary arts.
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Dr. Rigot earned a doctorate in Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry from the University of California at Davis. The focus of his dissertation was soil bioremediation. He did postdoctoral research at Ohio State University, where he worked on the optimization of the composting process and led a project looking at the microbial diversity in conventional versus organically managed soils.
Most recently, Dr. Rigot had been working with MOFGA Certification Services, the certifying branch of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. “In that role, I visited many organic farms and was often amazed at the ingenuity and resourcefulness displayed by the farmers to deal with many challenges and to create a healthy living for their family and their customers,” Rigot stated.
Dr. Rigot’s strong scientific background and his rich and varied experience adds to Cornucopia’s diverse knowledge base in farm and food policy and agricultural economics. He will be joining four other staff at the upcoming meeting of the NOSB in LaJolla, CA next week.
