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Coordinators

• Arion Thiboumery
  

• Lauren Gwin
  

Advisory Board
(listed alphbetically by state)

• ARKANSAS: Dr. Anne Fanatico has led the poultry program for 15 years at the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), a nonprofit organization that operates ATTRA, the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. She develops farmer-friendly material on alternative poultry production, including free-range and organic poultry, and processing information for small and mid-size establishments. 

• IOWA: Dr. Joseph Cordray is the Extension Meat Specialist at Iowa State University (ISU) and have over 40 years experience in all facets of the meat industry. He is responsible for the ISU series of sausage and processed meat short courses. He works extensively with Iowa meat processors on food safety training and regulatory compliance.

• NORTH CAROLINA: Jennifer Curtis is the project director of NC Choices, a Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) initiative utilizing a farm-to-fork approach to enhance sustainable animal agriculture, pasture-based production systems, small-scale, decentralized meat processing, and consumer access to local, healthy food choices. (CEFS is a partnership of North Carolina State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture).

• PENNSYLVANIA: Dr. Catherine Cutter is an associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Food Safety Extension Specialist in muscle foods at Pennsylvania State University. She works with small processors in the northeast U.S. and co-leads a national project on food safety outreach to small and very small plants.

• WASHINGTON: Colleen Donovan is Heifer International’s Pacific Northwest Program Manager, overseeing projects and staff in Washington, Oregon, and the Central Valley of CA. She is part of multiple networks working on mobile processing unit development, poultry equipment lending programs, outreach materials, and state policy changes regarding meat processing.

• WASHINGTON: Bruce Dunlop, a livestock producer and member of Island Grown Farmers Cooperative, built the first mobile USDA-inspected red-meat abattoir and has consulted on many others. Previously, he was a chemical engineer in the bio-ag and food industries.

• WISCONSIN: Pam Saunders is the Operations and Quality Manager for Organic Prairie, the meat subsidiary and brand of CROPP Cooperative/ Organic Valley, which is the largest organic farmer cooperative in the US. Organic Prairie manages relationships with about a dozen certified organic co-packers for beef, pork, chicken, and turkey processing, from harvest to ready-to-eat branded products.

For more information, contact:

Arion Thiboumery

Lauren Gwin

Coordinated in part by:

North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu