Fred Kirschenmann
Fred Kirschenmann was appointed, in November 2005, a Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, after having served since July 2000 as Director following a nationwide search. He also manages his family's 3,500-acre certified organic farm in south central North Dakota. He helped found Farm Verified Organic, Inc., a private certification agency, and the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society. Kirschenmann has had numerous national/ international appointments, including USDA's National Organic Standards Board, the North Central Region's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) administrative council, Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture board of directors. He has earned degrees from Yankton College in South Dakota, and Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago. Kirschenmann is an author of numerous articles and book chapters dealing with ethics and agriculture.
He also served a three-year appointment on the National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production operated by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and funded by Pew Charitable Trusts. The group issued its final report in April 2008, which included a chapter, "Toward Sustainable Animal Agriculture," written by Kirschenmann.
Kirschenmann is convening chair of a multi-state task force, Agriculture of the Middle, which focuses on research and markets for midsize American farms. The group also has established the Association of Family Farms to create standards and markets for these types of food.
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