Julie Shaffer is the newly elected co-chair of Slow Food USA and on the board of Heritage Foods USA. Julie is also the liaison to the Network of Governors. Having lived in Georgia for 35 years, Julie founded Slow Food Atlanta in 2000.

Andrea Spacht is a sustainable food systems specialist for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). NRDC works to make America’s food system more efficient and less wasteful. Andrea focuses on making our food system more efficient, sustainable, and equitable.

Kate Cox is the editor for The New Food Economy. She has written extensively about end-of-life issues, elder incarceration, and the plight of living organ donors.

John was raised on a small dairy farm in southwest Missouri and received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri.

Executive Chef Chris Starkus helms Urban Farmer, Sage Restaurant Group's modern farm-to-table steakhouse, in lower downtown Denver.

Alon Shaya really loves food.  He loves cooking it, being around it, learning about it, and teaching others about it.  Born in Israel and raised on cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, Alon now calls New Orleans his home.

Food writer, attorney and certified barbecue judge based in Denver, Adrian Miller served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton and a senior policy analyst for Colorado governor Bill Ritter Jr.

Christa Cotton is the owner of El Guapo Bitters in New Orleans. She stopped by the HRN tent at Slow Food Nations with her dog, Winston, to talk about the history of El Guapo and share how her team's getting ready for the upcoming Tales of the Cocktail.

David Shields is known throughout the American South as the “Flavor Saver.” Chairman of the Board of the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation, he undertook the historical research that enabled the restoration of many of the region’s historic crops.

Mitchell Davis is the Executive Vice President of the James Beard Foundation, a cookbook author, a journalist, and a scholar with a Ph.D. in Food Studies from NYU.