Ag Literacy and the Enviroment
Mark Linder Past President & Co-Founder,Food, Land & People
mlinder344@aol.com

Speaker Bio:

BIO:  Mark Linder is a business development and marketing consultant based in Sacramento, California. He works throughout the United States and internationally with businesses, educational institutions and non-profit organizations in the creation and implementation of programs designed to increase volunteer leadership participation, enhance marketing and publicity activities, expand fundraising endeavors, and strengthen organizational effectiveness through coalition building and partnerships. Recent projects include identifying sponsors and story ideas for America’s Heartland, a national public television series designed for urban and rural audiences to promote a better understanding of food and agriculture across the United States; coordinating outreach meetings and special events in California’s Napa Valley for the San Francisco Bay Area Ridge Trail Council; serving as the USA representative on a seven member international team to assist rural communities in New York’s Hudson River Valley in the development of Agri-tourism programs; and organizing a statewide meeting at the Culinary Institute of America in the Napa Valley of agricultural, educational, governmental, health and nutrition leaders to create a California Department of Education program for increasing the availability of fruits, vegetables, nuts and other commodities in California schools. Since November 2002, Mark has served as a lead consultant to Valley Vision’s Green Valley Alliance (GVA), a Sacramento based regional planning organization, where he developed and is implementing an eighteen month program to increase support for agriculture and Valley Vision’s innovative Agricultural Stewardship Program. The strategy includes working in partnership with the University of California Agricultural Issues Center to organize a one-day Sacramento Regional Agricultural Summit followed by a series of two-day Agricultural Institutes for Civic, Community and Policy Leaders. These educational and leadership development programs are designed to increase the understanding of agriculture’s role in the Region and to assist farmers and ranchers in conserving agricultural land in the rapidly expanding Sacramento Valley. Mark is the co-creator of the internationally recognized program, Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC). He began the educational program in San Francisco in 1980 and assisted many other states, the United States Department of Agriculture, Canada and Japan in the development of Agriculture in the Classroom programs. Examples of AITC programs created under Mark’s leadership include the Summer Agricultural Institute, Agricultural Academy for Leaders in Education and the Agricultural Institute for Government Executives. Mark is a co-founder and served as President of Food, Land & People, a national organization representing diverse sectors of society with the common interest of positive dialogue and education focussed on the interdependence of food production, environmental quality and the sustainability of human cultures. Mark is a Class XII graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program and traveled with his fellow class members to the former Soviet Union, Turkey and Greece. In 1988 Mark was selected as a John J. McCloy Fellow and traveled with two other Fellows for thirty days throughout Germany. He is a frequent speaker and visiting instructor at various universities and conferences. Mark is the recipient of state and national awards and has served in various leadership roles with several universities, community groups and agricultural organizations. Mark continues to play an active role in the management of his family’s 5th generation Iowa farm producing beef cattle, corn and soybeans. He is a graduate of Iowa State University.

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