ROBERT CURRY // Dir. Urban Agriculture, City of Dallas As the first Director of Urban Agriculture for the City of Dallas, Robert is working to establish its first urban agriculture program.  He has worked for the City for 15 years following a caree

ROBERT CURRY // Dir. Urban Agriculture, City of Dallas As the first Director of Urban Agriculture for the City of Dallas, Robert is working to establish its first urban agriculture program.  He has worked for the City for 15 years following a career in businesses including Fortune 500 and small company startups.  He is a life long gardener and founding member of three community gardens in Dallas.  After high school, Robert attained a Bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Missouri and then a Master’s degree from the University of Kansas.  Robert has been recognized by the National Center for Healthy Housing, American Public Health Association and the Environmental Protection Agency for his work improving housing conditions in order to reduce incidents of childhood asthma in Dallas. As a resident of Dallas, Texas, Robert will continue efforts to increase food supplies in order to reduce and eventually  eliminate food insecurity within the Dallas population.

CHRIS HIGGINS // Owner and Chief Editor of Urban Ag News. Urban Ag News is one of the leading science communicators for the commercial hydroponics, greenhouse vegetable, vertical farming and urban agriculture industries. With over 15 years of exper

CHRIS HIGGINS // Owner and Chief Editor of Urban Ag News. Urban Ag News is one of the leading science communicators for the commercial hydroponics, greenhouse vegetable, vertical farming and urban agriculture industries. With over 15 years of experience in the area of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture), Chris is dedicated to the horticulture and niche agriculture industries and is inspired by the current opportunities for continued innovation

RICARDO HERNANDEZ // PHD, North Carolina State, Research and Teaching in the area of Horticultural Energy, Controlled Environment Agriculture, and Sustainable horticulture. Ricardo is particularly focused the interaction of plant physiology, engine

RICARDO HERNANDEZ // PHD, North Carolina State, Research and Teaching in the area of Horticultural Energy, Controlled Environment Agriculture, and Sustainable horticulture. Ricardo is particularly focused the interaction of plant physiology, engineering, and entrepreneurship to investigate environmental manipulation to improve plant yield, efficiency, and profitability. The research results are directly translated to indoor production in greenhouses, high-tunnels, tissue culture, and plant factories/vertical farms.

JEFF RASKA // Project Specialist Texas A&M Agrilife Extension at Texas A&M University, Dallas. With over 40 years experience in field horticulture, Jeff leads the Dallas AgriLife Master Gardeners program as well as directs efforts at the AgriLife

JEFF RASKA // Project Specialist Texas A&M Agrilife Extension at Texas A&M University, Dallas. With over 40 years experience in field horticulture, Jeff leads the Dallas AgriLife Master Gardeners program as well as directs efforts at the AgriLife Garland Research Center.

EVA CSAKY // Executive Director of the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity in the Lyle School of Engineering. In this position, she is developing projects and initiatives in collaboration with academia, the private secto

EVA CSAKY // Executive Director of the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity in the Lyle School of Engineering. In this position, she is developing projects and initiatives in collaboration with academia, the private sector and not-for-profit organizations that benefit disadvantaged communities, both locally and around the world. Prior to joining SMU, Eva worked for the World Bank Group for 15 years with a focus on market-based solutions for environmental and social problems. She led the design and implementation of projects in 24 different countries around the world and led programs and initiatives in areas including energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy and clean water access.

MONTE ANDERSON // New Urbanist / Developer. As detailed in D Magazine, Monte is “founder and CEO of Options Real Estate, a champion for South Dallas, and a fervent small-business booster, is a busy man. He and his company are responsible for south

MONTE ANDERSON // New Urbanist / Developer. As detailed in D Magazine, Monte is “founder and CEO of Options Real Estate, a champion for South Dallas, and a fervent small-business booster, is a busy man. He and his company are responsible for southern-sector projects like the rehabilitation of the legendary Texas Theatre in Bishop Arts, the restoration of the Belmont Hotel, and Thorntree Country Club, which have brought vigor back to an underserved part of the region. Although his primary focus is the prosperity and health of South Dallas, Anderson’s heart beats for towns and neighborhoods across the nation that are underserved, impoverished, and forgotten, and he feels he has the solution for them.”

ANNE PALMER // Director of Food Communities, Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future // Since 2006, Ms. Palmer has been the director of Food Communities and Public Health program at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. 

ANNE PALMER // Director of Food Communities, Public Health, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future // Since 2006, Ms. Palmer has been the director of Food Communities and Public Health program at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.  She is responsible for directing the food and nutrition work of the Center.  This includes identifying opportunities to build awareness about the current food system and its impact on public health and the environment; collaborating at a regional level with other institutions to determine the potential of regional food systems reaching underserved areas, working with Baltimore City’s Food Policy Director on improving food access in Baltimore, and facilitating community food assessments with community organizations.  Anne is the co-lead for the Bloomberg American Health Initiative’s Obesity and the Food System working group.  She is a co-investigator on a multiple methods study of food policy councils in the US.  The results of this research led to the development of CLF’s new Food Policy Network (FPN) project in April 2013. FPN seeks to support the development of effective and robust food policy at the state and local level. The site includes a database of resources (over 800), a listserv with 1000 members, and a directory of food policy councils in North America.  We hold quarterly activities that include webinars, best practices, case studies and literature reviews and direct technical assistance. Over the past year, she provided technical assistance (in person) to FPCs in throughout the Mid Atlantic. Prior to this position, she worked for 13 years developing and managing strategic communication plans and large-scale health communication campaigns and programs in Asia.

KELLY VARGA // PhD - UNT Dallas, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences // She is also Director of Fresh Produce Mobile Market which is meant to serve as a traveling market sourcing locally grown produce to communities in southern Dallas withi

KELLY VARGA // PhD - UNT Dallas, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences // She is also Director of Fresh Produce Mobile Market which is meant to serve as a traveling market sourcing locally grown produce to communities in southern Dallas within known food deserts. The bus is represented by a partnership between UNT Dallas’ Urban SERCH Institute, Toyota, DART, Cedar Valley Community College, urban community gardens and farms, and community champions to highlight and support the effort of growth, revitalization, and entrepreneurship in local communities by way of education, research and outreach.

ART GOLD // CEO, Urban Foods, Philadelphia. A graduate of the vaunted Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University (Food Systems, Economics & Management), Art has spent over 4 decades in “food”, founding Urban Foods in 1996. Urban Food

ART GOLD // CEO, Urban Foods, Philadelphia. A graduate of the vaunted Eli Broad School of Business at Michigan State University (Food Systems, Economics & Management), Art has spent over 4 decades in “food”, founding Urban Foods in 1996. Urban Foods has worked with companies around the globe to develop, create demand and bring "best of world class foods" to the US marketplace with a particular focus on nutrition. He has his thumb on the pulse of the International food scene and is quick to identify new trends and directions.

Chef DAT // Chef Chef David Anthony Temple is famously known for his Chef DAT Underground Dinners in the United States and Belize. You can taste the influence of his Southern, Soul Food flare in the dishes he creates. He is well known for his abili

Chef DAT // Chef Chef David Anthony Temple is famously known for his Chef DAT Underground Dinners in the United States and Belize. You can taste the influence of his Southern, Soul Food flare in the dishes he creates. He is well known for his ability to spot new food trends and identify the next “in produce item”. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, DAT always had an eye for cooking. From ages 4 to 12, DAT grew up on farms in Amelia, Virginia, where he raised chickens and explored the flavors of the local meats and produce, and lived a farm-to-table way of life early on. After graduating high school in Doyline, Louisiana, he moved to Dallas where he worked as a Trainer of bartenders and servers at many top dining establishments (The Mercury, McCormick and Schmick's, The Foundation Room at House of Blues, Charlie Palmers at The Joule Hotel, Aurora, and Nosh). The next few years was spent traveling and immersion in the kitchens across the US and then went back home to Louisiana to freshen up his skills and palate. In 2009, he created the Chef DAT Underground Dinners in Dallas, with the help of legendary farmer Tom Spicer. The wildly popular pop-up dinners allowed DAT to quickly expand the concept to New Orleans, Houston, Colorado, San Francisco, Portland, Honolulu, and Belize.

HORACE CLEMONS // CEO, Clebor / Oggun Born in rural Alabama in 1943, Horace served in the USMC and Vietnam (1966 - 1968). He founded Post Software International in 1983 after a 15-year tenure with IBM. With offices in seven countries and 400 employ

HORACE CLEMONS // CEO, Clebor / Oggun Born in rural Alabama in 1943, Horace served in the USMC and Vietnam (1966 - 1968). He founded Post Software International in 1983 after a 15-year tenure with IBM. With offices in seven countries and 400 employees, PSI was the first company to use PC’s as business transaction computers. Ahead of his time, Horace established one of the first Open Systems Software Business Models and the “First Valued Customer Program” transforming point of sale technology. Established in 2015 by Horace and his former IBM partner, Saul Berenthal, Cleber is a joint venture. With the challenges facing “small-plot” farmers, and the belief that greater efficiency in farming the land will allow today’s field workers to become part of tomorrow’s supply chain in distributing agriculture to a wider geographic area, this realization led to the founding of Clebor / Oggun and the development of the Oggun tractor. Modeled after the 1948 Allis-Chalmers Model G, this versatile small tractor is built on an Open Source Manufacturing Model and with “best-of-breed, off the shelf” components, making local manufacturing and part sourcing easy for the small farmer. Oggun recently concluded manufacturing licensing agreements with universities in Puerto Rico, Cambodia and Zimbabwe as well as commercial agreements with companies in Peru and Ukraine.

Melissa Charity Waldron // A passionate advocate for urban farming, nutrient dense foods and community development, Melissa has over two decades of experience as a media producer and food consultant. She wrote about food, chefs, farms and sustaina

Melissa Charity Waldron // A passionate advocate for urban farming, nutrient dense foods and community development, Melissa has over two decades of experience as a media producer and food consultant. She wrote about food, chefs, farms and sustainability for outlets including Coastal Connecticut Magazine, Edible Nutmeg, Civil Eats, The Food Section and Fertile Ground USA. As a contributing producer for the Leonard Lopate Show at WNYC Public Radio, Melissa created a radio series about food with the Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine, Ruth Reichl, which ran for seven years. The show won the James Beard Award for Best Radio Show in 2006. Melissa currently enjoys helping small local food companies and nonprofits succeed in telling their story online while working as a freelance public relations and media consultant for chefs, restaurants, and food businesses in the NYC metropolitan area. Past clients include: Hudson Valley Fresh, Fair Trade USA, Pampered Cow, Edible Brooklyn & Edible Manhattan magazines. Melissa has a Certificate in Commercial Urban Agriculture from Growing Power in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she was personally mentored by President & Founder, Will Allen.