Oran B. Hesterman

Dr. Oran Hesterman is a national leader in sustainable agriculture and food systems. He is the author of Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All, in which he provides an inspiring guide to changing not only what we eat, but how food is grown, packaged, delivered, and sold. His experience in the philanthropic sector includes more than 15 years as program director for Food Systems at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. He also played an essential role in the establishment of the Michigan Food Policy Council and has made significant contributions to the funding of healthy food and farming via his leadership of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders group. Prior to starting the Fair Food Network, Oran was the inaugural president of Fair Food Foundation, leading their sustainable food systems programs. Prior to his work in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, he researched and taught forage and cropping systems management, sustainable agriculture, and leadership development in the crop and soil sciences department at Michigan State University in East Lansing. A former fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program (KNFP) and the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy in Washington, D.C., he has published more than 400 reports and articles on subjects ranging from cover crops and crop rotation to the impact of philanthropic investments on food systems practice and policy. Oran earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of California, Davis, in plant science/vegetable crops and agronomy, respectively. He received his doctorate in agronomy and business administration from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul.