Bill Kurtis, president of Kurtis Productions and founder of Tallgrass Beef An acclaimed journalist, documentary host and producer, network and major market news anchor, and multimedia production company president, Bill Kurtis is celebrating his 4­0th anniversary in the field of broadcasting. Over the years, Kurtis has created a body of work that is virtually unparalleled. Kurtis began his career in Topeka, Kansas, in the '60s, moving on to Chicago where he was anchor of The Channel Two News, then to network news as anchor of the CBS Morning News where he was credited with breaking the Agent Orange story. In 1985 he began his career as a documentarian and subsequently fou­nded Kurtis Productions, producing programs for the A&E Network, including Investigative Reports and Cold Case Files® as well as Investigating History for The History Channel. Kurtis has also served as the host of A&E's American Justice and Cold Case Files®, nominated for 2004 and 2005 Primetime Emmys. Kurtis is also an author. The Death Penalty on Trial: Crisis in American Justice (PublicAffairs) is his most recent book, which explores issues surrounding capital punishment in America. In his home state of Kansas, Kurtis is a rancher, radio station owner, art gallery owner, small businessman, and an active conservationist. His 10,000-acre Red Buffalo Ranch is a working cattle ranch, raising organic grass-fed beef from a breed dating back to colonial times. Kurtis founded Tallgrass Beef Co. in 2005 and has successfully marketed his beef to top restaurants throughout the country. The ranch is located in the last section of North America to enjoy untouched tall grass prairie, a personal point of pride. Kurtis is the recipient of numerous humanitarian, journalism, and broadcasting awards including Emmys, CableACE Awards, and the Thurgood Marshall Award for his Investigative Reports installment on the death penalty. He is a published author and a member of the board of directors of several distinguished organizations including The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Foundation, and the Field Museum of Chicago.

Ann Wright, Deputy Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture Ann Wright was recently appointmented as Deputy Under Secretary in the USDA where she will focus on marketing and regulatory programs.  She was previously the Senior Policy Advisor to Majority Leader Harry Reid on issues before the Senate Agriculture Committee.  During the 2002 farm bill she worked with farmers and nonprofit organizations at the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in Washington, D.C., winning policy changes and funding for the Value-Added Producer Grants program, developing labeling standards for grass-fed livestock, and securing funding for the Farmers Market Promotion Program. Wright began her career in government in Senator Paul Simon's office, where she advised the Senator on agriculture policy over the course of two farm bills. She has also served as a policy advisor on agriculture issues for Senator Paul Wellstone and was a Senior Policy Analyst for the Consumers Union, lobbying on energy and trade issues. She is from central Illinois and earned her bachelor's degree in political science from Illinois State University.

Sandra Batie, Elton R. Smith Professor in Food and Agricultural Policy, Michigan State University Sandra Batie is the Elton R. Smith Professor of Food and Agricultural Policy at Michigan State University and is a former professor of Agricultural Economics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her specialty is agri-environmental policy. She has also served as a senior associate with the Conservation Foundation and with the National Governors’ Association and has provided technical expertise to the National Academy of Sciences. Batie is a past president and Fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association and a past president of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association. She earned both master's and doctorate degrees in agricultural economics at Oregon State University. She also sits on the Winrock International Board (Henry A. Wallace Center for Agriculture and Environmental Policy), serving over the years as trustee, vice chair, and chair of the board.

Richard Manning Richard Manning is an award-winning environmental author and journalist, with particular interest in the history and future of the American prairie. He is the author of seven books (most recent is Against The Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization), and his articles have been published in Harper's Magazine, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Audubon, and The Bloomsbury Review. He and C. Ford Runge worked on a joint project with World Wildlife Fund and the Henry A. Wallace Center for Agricultural and Environmental Policy called the Midwest Commodities and Conservation Initiative. Manning worked as a journalist, reporter, and editor for more than 15 years, including four years at the Missoulian. In 1995 he was the recipient of a John S. Knight Fellowship from Stanford University. He is a three-time winner of the Seattle Times C.B. Blethen Award for Investigative Journalism, and has also won the Audubon Society Journalism Award and the inaugural Richard J. Margolis Award in 1992. He lives in Lolo, Montana, in a log cabin he built with his wife, a process he documented in his second book.

Chuck Hassebrook, Executive Director Center for Rural Affairs Chuck Hassebrook is a member of the Board of Regents at the University of Nebraska and the executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska, where he has developed strategies for rural revitalization, devised farm program payment limitations, and enhanced federal funding for rural programs. Hassebrook was instrumental in the passage of Initiative 300, Nebraska 's anti-corporate-farming amendment. He also was involved in the passage of federal agricultural tax reforms in the 1980s, research and rural development provisions of recent federal farm bills, and a pioneering package of rural development initiatives passed by the Nebraska Legislature. Hassebrook has served on the National Commission on Small Farms and cochaired the USDA Agricultural Science and Technology Review Board. Articles and publications include Saving the Family Farm, Strategies to Revitalize Rural America, and Will Rural America Have a Future?

Neil Levin, NOW Foods Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA, is a board-certified clinical nutritionist with diplomate in advanced nutritional laboratory assessment. He is a professional member of the International & American Associations of Clinical Nutritionists and the Scientific Council of the national Clinical Nutrition Certification Board. Levin is program chair and past president of Nutrition for Optimal Health Association. He serves on the board of directors of the Mid-American Health Organization (MAHO), affiliated with the National Products Association (NPA). The NPA presented Levin its 2008 Industry Champion Award because of “notable individual contributions to the natural products industry above and beyond what is expected to achieve commercial success.” He also serves on a working committee of the American Herbal Products Association. Levin is the nutrition education manager and a product formulator for NOW Foods. He blogs at www.honestnutrition.com.

Gale Gand, Tru Restaurant Gale Gand is a James Beard Award winning pastry chef and executive pastry chef and co-owner of the world-renowned Chicago restaurant Tru. The host of Sweet Dreams, Food Network's first daily show devoted to baking, she is the author of six previous cookbooks, including Gale Gand's Just a Bite , Chocolate & Vanilla and her most recent effort, Gale Gand's Brunch!. Gand was recognized in 2001 as Outstanding Pastry Chef by The James Beard Foundation and Pastry Chef of the Year by Bon Appetite magazine, and in 1994 as one of Food & Wine's Top Ten Best New Chefs. As a long-standing supporter of sustainable agriculture, eating locally and the environmental movement, Gand is a member of the National Restaurant Association's "Conserve" Council and forages annually for local ramps and mushrooms with her son for her restaurant.

Bruce Sherman, North Pond Restaurant A native Chicagoan, Bruce Sherman traveled the world developing his culinary knowledge before returning to his hometown to delight Chicago's dining community. As Chef and Partner at Lincoln Park's North Pond, Sherman utilized influences he picked up in Paris, Southeast Asia and London to produce his contemporary French-American, innovative, seasonal cuisine. Making daily trips to the corner vegetable "wallah" (vendor) in New Delhi forced Sherman to cook only with what was available each day, what was fresh and seasonal. His experience in India profoundly influenced his cooking style. Sherman was honored by Food & Wine as one of America's "Best New Chefs" of 2003 in the July issue of the same year. First in 2007, then again in 2009, Sherman was nominated by the esteemed James Beard Foundation in the "Best Chef: Great Lakes Region" category.