Stewardship Council

The Stewardship Council represents a broad cross-section of food and agricultural interests and expertise. Members have specific education and training and/or practical experience in one or more standards areas. Members serve as individuals. Organizational affiliations are listed below for identification purposes only.

Stewardship Council Members: 

Karl Arne

Office of Ecosystems, Tribal & Public Affairs, US EPA Region 10 (retired)
Karl worked for EPA Region 10 (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) in the Seattle Office as a pesticide expert, and led  the Region 10 Ag Sector, an effort to coordinate EPA programs that have a connection to agriculture.  Prior to joining the Regional Office, he worked at the EPA Headquarters Office of Pesticide Programs, where he was primarily involved in risk assessment for pesticides in food. Karl holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and began his career in pesticides by synthesizing novel pyrethroid insecticides for the FMC corporation.

Ken Bailey

Vice President & Shareholder, Orchard View Farms, Inc.
Orchard View Farms grows, packs and ships premium fresh cherries for domestic and international sales. Orchard View Farms is a 4th generation family business founded in 1923. Ken grew up on the family farm and returned to farm after his graduation from Oregon State University with a BS in horticulture. He currently serves as CFO for Orchard View. Ken and his wife Shirley have three grown children and six grandchildren. He serves or has served on many community and industry organizations including State of Oregon Big Look Task Force, Oregon State Board of Agriculture, State of Oregon International Trade Commission, Mount Hood Economic Alliance, Wasco County Economic Development Commission, Wasco County Fruit and Produce League, National Council of Agricultural Employers, Oregon Farm Bureau and The Food Alliance Stewardship Council.

Mike Gempler

Executive Director, Washington Growers League; Administrator, Northwest Growers Association
Mike Gempler is the Executive Director of the Washington Growers League in Yakima, WA.  The Growers League provides services and advocacy to members on labor and employment issues.  He also administers the Northwest Growers Association, which utilizes the H-2A and H-2B programs for agricultural employers. Mike currently serves as President of the National Council of Agricultural Employers, based in Washington, DC. He also serves as Treasurer of the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust, as a member of the Stewardship Council of the Food Alliance, as Treasurer of the Mt. Adams Health Foundation, and as a board member of the Yakima Greenway Foundation. He received a BS in agriculture from the Ohio State University and an MS in agricultural economics from the University of Wyoming and is a graduate of the Washington Agriculture and Forestry Leadership Program.

David Granatstein

Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources, Washington State University
David Granatstein has a diversity of experience working in cropping systems in the Northwest, Midwest, and overseas. His professional interests focus on soil quality, orchard floor management, biologically intensive and organic farming, ecolabeling of food products, and renewable energy. He is also the co-PI on the Climate Friendly Farming project. He has degrees in environmental science and soil science from Cornell University and Washington State University. David is based at the Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee, Washington.

Karl Hakanson

Karl recently served as the Certification Coordinator for Protected Harvest, a non-profit organization that independently certified farmers' use of stringent environmental growing standards.  Previously Karl worked for 15 years in various capacities for the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Service and the UW-Madison College of Agriculture and Life Sciences on sustainable agriculture research and education projects and directed education and outreach programs for a variety of water quality and natural resource programs.  He holds a B.S. in Agriculture from the UW-River Falls and a M.S. in Land Resources from the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, UW-Madison.  He conducts inspections for Food Alliance and organized dual organic-Food Alliance certifications together with the Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA) and ICS, Inc.

Jonathan Kaplan

Director, Sustainable Agriculture Project, Natural Resources Defense Council
Jonathan Kaplan leads NRDC’s efforts to promote agricultural systems in California that improve public health and the environment while preserving agriculture itself. Jonathan also coordinates market-based strategies to promote least-toxic pest control in the urban environment. Prior to joining NRDC, Jonathan directed programs at San Francisco BayKeeper and Environment California (formerly the California Public Interest Research Group), where he coordinated a variety of campaigns to protect public health and the environment from pesticides and other pollutants. Jonathan serves on the Board of Directors of the California Coalition for Food and Farming, Environment California, the San Francisco Estuary Institute and is on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. Jonathan received a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a Master’s of Environmental Management degree at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Sara O'Brien

Private Lands Conservation Associate, Defenders of Wildlife
Sara’s work for Defenders of Wildlife focuses around biodiversity conservation on private lands. Her primary priority is to create and support non-regulatory tools that encourage private landowners to conserve and enhance wildlife habitat and manage their lands sustainably. Another major aim is to assist states and landowners in protecting biodiversity under conditions of climate change.
Sara has worked with programs based at the University of Arizona’s Institute for the Study of Planet Earth that focused on climate change and variability and wildland fire risk. Previously, she was a research fellow at the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia. Sara holds a BA in anthropology and linguistics from Grinnell College and an MS in natural resource management from the University of Arizona.

Larry Pearmine

Pearmine Farms, Inc.
After earning a B.S. in Agricultural Economics and spending three years as a Peace Corp volunteer in Liberia, West Africa, Larry returned to the family farm in 1973. He and his brother own and operate Pearmine Farms Inc. They grow vegetables, grass seed, and cherries in the Willamette Valley north of Salem.

Mike Powers

Compliance & Planning Leader, Oregon Dept. of Agriculture
Mike coordinates the compliance and planning efforts for the Water Quality Program at the Oregon Department of Agriculture.  He works with regional staff and partners in agriculture to prevent water pollution from agricultural activities.  Primary focus is on soil, water, and waste management.  Mike has been working with Oregon agriculture for nearly ten years.  After earning a B.S. in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning from U.C. Davis, Mike started work in agriculture and natural resources conservation as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala.  Later he earned an M.S. in Forestry (Agroforestry emphasis) from Michigan State University.

Jack Southworth

Rancher, Country Natural Beef
Jack owns and manages Southworth Bros. Ranch near Seneca, OR with his wife, Teresa. They operate a cow/calf/yearling operation in Bear Valley and are always trying to find ways to operate their ranch profitably while maintaining a high quality of life and sustaining the ecosystem. They are members of Country Natural Beef.

Lori Stahlbrand

President, Local Flavor Plus
Lori Stahlbrand is the founder and President of Local Food Plus (LFP), an award-winning non-profit that brings farmers and consumers to the table to share in the benefits of environmentally and socially responsible food production.  Before launching LFP, Lori was a food policy consultant working on policy development, public outreach, marketing and communications.  Prior to this, she spent 15 years as a journalist and broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.  Lori is co-author of "Real Food For A Change," a Canadian bestseller that connects individual health with the health of the community, the economy, and the planet.  She holds a Masters Degree from York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), and currently teaches a course on food security at the University of Toronto.  Lori is a member of the City of Toronto's Food Policy Council, and recently completed two terms as an advisor to the Laidlaw Foundation.  She was also a member of the Ontario Minister of Agriculture's Strategic Advisory Committee.  In 2007, Lori was named a "Green Giant" by Toronto Life Magazine for her contributions to food and environment issues.  She is also the recipient of a 2007 "Woman of the Earth" award from the Yves Rocher Foundation. 

Ron Strochlic

Executive Director, California Institute for Rural Studies
Ron has a Master of Science in Rural Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a concentration in international development. He has been working on issues related to sustainable food systems and farmworker health and well-being at CIRS since 2002. Current and recent work at CIRS includes research on labor practices in sustainable agriculture, an assessment of food security among farmworkers in the Central Valley and research on reasons that organic farmers “drop out” of organic certification. Prior to working at CIRS, Ron lived and worked in Guatemala for seven years, where he worked on a program helping landless campesinos obtain access to farmland. He also conducted research on the impacts of land tenure on natural resource conservation in the Mayan highland and tropical lowland regions of Guatemala. Ron is fluent in Spanish and has been conducting applied research on sustainable agriculture and food systems, farmworker health and well-being, natural resource conservation and rural development in the U.S. and Latin America since 1988.

Ryan Wist

Quality Assurance/Food Safety Manager, Scenic Fruit Company
Ryan Wist was raised in an agricultural family in Amity, Oregon, USA.  He worked on local farms, local canneries and his family’s seed and grain cleaning company until beginning a career as a quality assurance professional in the electronics industry.  In 2002, Ryan decided to reclaim his roots in agriculture and answered the call to service as a Quality Assurance Manager in the food industry.  His role in food processing companies is the administration and enforcement of State, Federal, and Third Party expectations.  He has hand on experience working cooperatively with the USDA, FDA, EPA, Oregon DEQ, Oregon DHS, National Sanitation Foundation, the American Institute of Baking International and many others.  
In his current service to Scenic Fruit Company, Ryan has actively worked with their grower base, customer base and regional food system stake holders to improve food safety and stewardship over our limited resources.  Scenic Fruit Company is a third generation owned and operated family company serving regional growers since 1931.  Scenic Fruit Company is certified Organic under the USDA NOP, a Food Alliance Certified Handler, Supervised Kosher by Kosher Overseers, and regularly audited by USDA, FDA, and NSF for food safety and quality.  Scenic Fruit Company was honored with the City of Portland 2007 BEST Award for Sustainable Food Systems.