Advisory Board
David Visher (Chair), California Program Manager, Food Alliance, Davis California.
David joined the Food Alliance team in March, 2007 to work in California to support outreach to farmers, ranchers, food packers, processors and distributors regarding Food Alliance certification.
He has been a vegetable grower, a produce seller and spent nine years with the University of California Cooperative Extension Small Farm Program. In 2001 Visher formed a consulting partnership called Farm and Agriculture Collaborative Training Systems (FACTS). David serves on the boards of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the California Institute for Rural Studies.
Poppy Davis,Executive Director, Ecological Farming Association, Watsonville, CA.
Poppy Davis has more than fifteen years of experience addressing tax and accounting needs for not for profits, small businesses, and individuals, with an emphasis on agricultural enterprises. On May 1, 2010, she assumed the position of Executive Director of the Ecological Farming Association (EcoFarm), based in Watsonville, CA.
She is a graduate of the University of California at Davis with a degree in Agricultural Economics, and a Master’s Candidate in the Journalism program at Georgetown University in Washington DC. In 2006, she completed the two-year California Agricultural Leadership Program. Her non-profit board experience includes six years as the treasurer for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. She is currently on the boards of Red Tomato and The Carrot Project, both in Boston Massachusetts.
Ms. Davis teaches classes in business planning, introduction to taxation, and not-for-profit governance and accounting in English and Spanish to small producer groups. Prior to joining the USDA in 2004, Ms. Davis worked in public accounting in San Francisco and in the Napa, Willamette, and Sacramento Valleys.
Erin Hardie, Doctoral Candidate, UC Davis, Davis, California
Erin has a master’s degree from UC Davis in International Agricultural Development with an emphasis in postharvest handling systems for horticultural crops. She has extensive experience in agricultural training and education and has worked with farmers and farm communities around the world, from Bolivia to Egypt.
Erin is pursuing her PhD in agriculture and science education at UC Davis with an emphasis on how educational programs, research institutions and information systems can best support small and medium-scale farmers, farmworkers and rural communities in California.
Larry Jacobs, CEO, Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo, Pescadero, California.
Larry founded Jacobs Farm and Del Cabo with his wife and partner Sandra Belin in 1980 and has been a leader in the organic farming movement ever since. Jacobs Farm is a California based retail organic herb company. Del Cabo is based in Baja California and Baja California Sur in Mexico where Larry and Sandy have spent almost three decades working with small family growers.
In 2007 Larry and Sandra received the Organic Trade Association’s prestigious Organic Farming Leadership Award.
Todd Koons , CEO and founder of EpicRoots, Salinas, California.
A former chef, Todd helped pioneer the production of baby and gourmet salad mixes beginning in the 1980’s. In 1990 he formed TKO Farms, which brought organic, pre-washed salad greens from around the world to the American public.
Always looking for the newest products, Todd has focused in recent years to introduction of mache, France’s number one salad green, to the US market. When not in one of his fields or salad plant, Todd is busy supporting numerous sustainable farming and human rights causes.
Mark Lipson, Policy Program Director, Organic Farming Research Foundation, Santa Cruz, CA
Mark is also Organic Farming Research Foundation’s ambassador for organic issues in the policy arena. His seminal work “Searching for the ‘O-Word‘” documented the absence of publicly funded organic research and provided the platform for OFRF’s advocacy success. Mark is also a member of the Molino Creek Farming Collective, a multi-family farm producing certified organic tomatoes and vegetable crops for wholesale and farmers’ markets since 1982.
Nadia McCaffrey, Founder of the Patrick McCaffrey Foundation, Tracy, CA
Nadia has been involved in non-profit leadership for several years. In 2005, her son, Patrick was killed while in Iraq. His case garnered international attention and led to the creation of the Patrick McCaffrey Foundation to promote mental and holistic wellness and palliative care among veterans returning from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gail Wadsworth, California Institute for Rural Studies, Executive Director, Davis, CA
In 2009 Gail took on the responsibility of moving the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS) into the next phase of its evolution. CIRS is the only non-profit organization in California with a mission to conduct public interest research that strengthens social justice and increases the sustainability of California’s rural communities. Prior to working at CIRS, Gail was the Deputy Director of Farmer Veteran Coalition. She has worked as an independent consultant to farmers, consumers, educators, and wholesalers concerned with alternatives to the current food system since arriving in California in 2000. Gail serves on the Steering Committee of the California Food and Justice Coalition and as a sustainability advisor at Los Medanos College. She has a Master of Science degree in International Agricultural Development from UC, Davis
Lindsey Brothers, US Army Freedom Team Salute, Washington D.C
