Gail Whiting Feenstra, Ed.D., R.D.
Food Systems Analyst

UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program
University of California, Davis
(530) 752-8408
gwfeenstra@ucdavis.edu

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Gail Feenstra is the food systems coordinator at the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. She coordinates SAREP’s Community Development and Public Policy Program which includes managing SAREP’s community development and public policy grants, conducting applied and evaluative research that strengthens community development efforts and coordinating education and outreach to community-based groups to build their capacity and leadership skills. Gail is also a nutritionist with a background in nutrition education. She is always looking for creative ways to strengthen the connections between producers and consumers, and between urban and rural communities through participation in sustainable, community food systems.

Current/Past Projects:

EDUCATION:

Ed.D., Nutrition education, Teachers College, Columbia University, Department of Nutrition education, 1986.
M.Ed.(1984), M.S. (1983), Teachers College
B.S. with major in dietetics, 1978, University of California, Davis

EMPLOYMENT:

Food Systems Analyst for the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP), Davis, CA; 10/89 – present. I coordinate SAREP’s Food Systems Program.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

• Associate editor of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (formerly American Journal of Alternative Agriculture), 2003- present.
• Selected as a Kellogg fellow to participate in the Salzburg Seminar: "Achieving Food Security Through Community-based Food Systems," Salzburg, Austria, May 1-8, 2002.
• Past president of the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society, 2000-2001.
• Board member of California Federation of Certified Farmers Markets
• Member of the Community Food Security Coalition, Community Alliance with Family Farmers
• Registered dietitian (American Dietetic Association)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Gillespie, Gilbert W., Jr., Duncan L. Hilchey, Gail Feenstra and C. Clare Hinrichs. [In Press] Farmers' markets as keystones in rebuilding local and regional food systems in C. Clare Hinrichs and Thomas A. Lyson (Eds.) Remaking the North American Food System.
• Brodt, Sonja, Gail Feenstra, Robin Kozloff, Karen Klonsky and Laura Tourte. [2005 In Press] Farmer-community connections and the future of ecological agriculture in California. Agriculture and Human Values.
• Graham, Heather, Gail Feenstra, Ann M. Evans, and Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr. 2004. Creating a school environment to support life long healthy eating habits in children. California Agriculture (October-December), 58(4): 200-205.
• C. Clare Hinrichs, Gilbert W. Gillespie and Gail W. Feenstra. 2004. Social learning and innovation at retail farmers' markets. Rural Sociology. 69: 31-58.
• Feenstra, Gail, Christopher Lewis, C. Clare Hinrichs, Gilbert Gillespie, Jr., and Duncan Hilchey. 2003. Entrepreneurial outcomes and enterprise size in U.S. retail farmers’ markets. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 18(1): 46-55.
• Feenstra, Gail. 2002. Creating Space for Sustainable Food Systems: Lessons from the Field. Agriculture and Human Values 19(2): 99-106
• Campbell, David and Gail Feenstra. 2001. A Local Partnership for Sustainable Food and Agriculture: the Case of PlacerGROWN in Mark R. Daniels (Ed.) Creating Sustainable Community Programs: A Casebook for Public Administrators. Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT.
• Feenstra, Gail. 2000. School gardens produce food and lessons. California Agriculture 54(5): 10-11.
• Feenstra, Gail and Christopher Lewis. 1999. Farmers’ markets offer new business opportunities for farmers. California Agriculture 53(6): 25-29.
• Garrett, Steven and Gail Feenstra. 1999. Growing a Community Food System. Community Ventures series. A Western Regional Extension Publication. Puyallup, WA: Washington State University Cooperative Extension, Puyallup Research & Extension Center.
• Feenstra, Gail, Sharyl McGrew and David Campbell. 1999. Entrepreneurial Community Gardens: Growing food, skills, jobs and communities. DANR Publication No. 21578. Davis, CA: University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS:

• "Yolo County Farm-to-School Program Evaluation," California School Food Service Association, Sacramento, CA March 19, 2005.
• "Sustainability indicators for a sustainable California food system," American Planning Association Conference, San Francisco, CA, March 21, 2005.
• "Agriculture of the Middle," California Commodity Committee meeting, UC Davis, February 10, 2005.
• "Supporting a Bioregional Food System," Geography Seminar Series, UC Davis, December 1, 2004.
• "Food Systems and Social Change," Consortium for Women and Research: Work in Progress Series-Women, Food and Technology, UC Davis, November 18, 2004.
• "Yolo County Farm-to-School Program Marketing Efforts and Evaluation," Center for Social Marketing, UC Davis, November 2, 2004.
• "Creative Marketing Options for Citrus Growers," Citrus Research Growers’ Educational Seminar, Chico, CA October 27, 2004.
• "Plate Tectonics: Do Farm-to-School programs really shift students’ diets,? Community Food Security Conference, Milwaukee, MN, October17-19, 2004.
• "Creating a Food System Assessment for the Upper Great Lakes Regional Foodshed," a day-long workshop, Woodlands Wisdom Workshop, Duluth, Minnesota, August 12, 2004.
• "Yolo County Farm-to-School Evaluation," California Nutrition Network Social Marketing Conference, August 4, 2004.
• "Yolo County Farm-to-School Program," Maternal and Child Health Program, School of Public Health, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, May 18, 2004.
• "Eating from our foodshed," Landscape Architecture class lecture, UC Davis, May 7, 2004.
• "Yolo County Farm-to-School Evaluation," Kellogg Food & Society Conference, Lake Tahoe, April 20-22, 2004.
• "Sustainable solutions to feeding hungry children," Keynote address at the Chinook Health Region Conference: "Building food security for children—a partnership approach," Lethbridge, Alberta Canada, March 18, 2004.
• "Food access and security: community health perspectives," California Public Health Association-North Conference, Oakland, CA, March 12, 2004.
• "Community food systems and garden-based learning," Garden-based learning workshop, UC Davis, February 25, 2004.