CFE Event: Examining the Role of CFEs in Local Economic Development

Watch the U.S. Panel | Watch the Int'l Panel 

EVENT OVERVIEW

This past January, The Wallace Center at Winrock International and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) presented a pair of panels on the newly released report Community Food Enterprise: Local Success in a Global Marketplace (CFE). CFE, jointly funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, profiles 24 locally owned food businesses in the U.S. and internationally (see complete list of featured enterprises below), and examines the financial, social, and environmental performance of each enterprise. Analysis of these featured CFEs reveals milestones, challenges, and strategies for replicating successes, and demonstrates how locally owned food enterprises are an increasingly powerful driver for local economic development.

The DC-area event included a morning panel focusing on our U.S. enterprises,and an afternoon panel on our international enterprises. Each one offered the opportunity to hear from Michael Shuman, Project Co-Director and Lead Author, featured enterprises, and other invited guests (see panelist bios and event details below), as well as a Q&A around the report's key findings and implications.

FEATURED ENTERPRISES

CFE Morning Panel - U.S. Enterprises

Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, USDA
Before rejoining USDA, Merrigan served as an Assistant Professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston. In 2008 she was an expert consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome. Read complete bio…

Michael Shuman, Project Co Director and Lead Author, CFE
Michael Shuman is the Director for Research and Economic Development at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and holds an A.B. with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. An economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Michael has authored, coauthored, or edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998).

Amy Emberling, Managing Partner, Zingerman's Community of Businesses
Amy Emberling’s love of great food began in her childhood home of Nova Scotia, where she feasted on lobster and wild blueberry cake. She learned to cook in her mother’s kitchen, at the Ritz Hotel in Paris and in a couple of Michigan restaurants before following her passion for baking to Zingerman’s Bakehouse. In 1996 Amy left Ann Arbor, and settled down in New York City. While in NYC, Amy completed her MBA from Columbia University — the perfect complement to her undergraduate degree in Social Theory (with special emphasis on the Marxists) from Harvard.

April Harrington, Treasurer, Oklahoma Food Cooperative
April Harrington established Earth Elements Farm in 1998, with the goal to build a sustainable natural farm producing herbs, vegetables, and fruits.  Through the years Earth Elements Farm has grown certified organic produce, taught sustainable skills to both adults and youth, and value added a wide range of Oklahoma Agriculture.  In 2007, she expanded Earth Elements Farm to include Earth Elements Market & Bakery, focused energies on crop preservation and reduction of crop waste.Utilizing seconds and surplus of locally produced ingredients, Earth Elements produces an extensive line of Baked goods, Canned goods, Dehydrated products, Frozen Ingredients, and Ready to Eat Casseroles and Entrees.  Currently, Earth Elements works with 24 Oklahoma producers and produces in excess of 300 different products. In November 2006, April accepted an appointment to the Oklahoma Food Cooperative Board as Treasurer.  For the last three years she has worked to establish accounting procedures and policies for the 3000+ membership.  Her mission is to aid in the establishment of an alternative “LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM”.

June Russell, Manager of Strategic Development and Regulations, Greenmarket
June grew up in Southwest Michigan’s famed Fruit Belt and has spent the last twenty years in numerous capacities within the food business, from baker to chef to café and bar manager. She has advocated on behalf of farmers and small producers throughout her career.June came to Greenmarket in 2004 and learned the market system through managing several neighborhood-based markets across the City. For the last three years she has been the organization's Farm Inspections Manager and has traveled extensively within the region, visiting producer farms and production facilities. These experiences have given her the background and insight to think strategically on behalf of growers and on re-building our local food system. Her recent work on facilitating the production of grains and processing in the region highlights Greenmarket's capacity to be a progressive force in driving farm viability in the Northeast.

CFE Afternoon Panel - International Enterprises

Mercy Karanja, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Mercy Karanja is a specialist in rural development, in the Agricultural Development division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to this, she was a Development Policy Coordinator with the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. She also worked for eight years as the Chief Executive of the Kenya National Farmers Union. She joined the organization after 16 years at the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, where she served as Assistant Director. Over her career in rural agricultural development, Mercy has been involved in shaping policy for CSO/NGO participation in the development process, especially with the multilateral organizations relevant in rural development, including FAO and IFAD. She has contributed to the World Economic Forum on chapter on hunger, and was a lead discussant for the World Development report (2008). She has been a longstanding advocate for farmers’ involvement in the development process.

Michael Shuman, Project Co Director and Lead Author, CFE
Michael Shuman is the Director for Research and Economic Development at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and holds an A.B. with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. An economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Michael has authored, coauthored, or edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998).

Sylvia Banda, Founder and Owner, Sylva Professional Catering Ltd
In 1986, Sylvia Banda launched her first business, a restaurant, cooking and using ingredients from her own home. Within a year, her business had grown to a full cafeteria and catering company. After incorporating her business in 1991, she established the first subsidiary, Sylva Professional Catering Training College in 2001, followed by Sylva Food Solutions in 2003. She now operates a third subsidiary, Sylva Guest House, which she plans to turn into a full service restaurant and hotel.

Sylvia’s wide and varied experience in this industry has earned her a place among managers of leading institutions and business contacts. These qualities have resulted in her being elected Chairperson of the Lusaka Province Business Association and appointment to the Boards of Directors at Zambia Investment Centre, Vocational Training and was she was voted Woman of the Years 2000 and 2001 by the American Biographical Association. She was also awarded the Top Six (6) Excellent African Women Entrepreneurs prize 2001 by Enterprise Africa magazine. She is a strong advocate for the elevation of Zambian traditional cuisine, and the economic empowerment of the employees and farmers who work with her.

Nicholas Kafka, Founding Director, Teach a Man to Fish/Fundacion Paraguaya
Leaving a successful banking career in the City of London for a local microfinance institution in Paraguay, Nik discovered an innovative school aiming not only to teach the poor how to become rural entrepreneurs, but to do so as a self-financing social enterprise. Having helped transform this school into a replicable model, and realizing the huge potential for funding education through enterprise rather than charity, he returned to the UK to found Teach A Man To Fish - whose members network now numbers over 1,200 education institutions and experts in more than 100 countries. He holds a first-class BSc in Chemistry from the University of Bristol, a Masters degree in International Development from the School of Oriental & African Studies at the University of London, as well as professional qualifications in finance. In 2009 he was honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

CONTACT

For questions about this event, or the Community Food Enterprise project, contact Cari Beth Head at cbhead@winrock.org.