Food Democracy Now! is a grassroots community dedicated to building a sustainable food system that protects our natural environment, sustains farmers and nourishes families.

Our food system is fundamentally broken. A few companies dominate the market, prioritizing profits over people and our planet. Government policies put the interests of corporate agribusiness over the livelihoods of farm families. Farm workers toil in unsafe conditions for minimal wages. School children lack access to healthy foods--as do millions of Americans living in poverty. From rising childhood and adult obesity to issues of food safety, air and water pollution, worker's rights and global warming, our current food system is leading our nation to an unsustainable future.

Food Democracy Now! members have a different vision. We know we can build a food system that gives our communities equal access to healthy food, and respects the dignity of the farmers who produce it. We believe in recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment. We value our children's health, worker's rights, conservation, and animal welfare over corporate profits. And we believe that working together, we can make this vision a reality in our lifetimes.

Food Democracy Now! members organize both through online campaigns and in-person actions across the country. Our first campaign succesfully put officials endorsed by FDN members in the Obama administration, with the support of these original signers. Now over 100,000 people strong, we invite you to Join Us.

Founders  

Dave Murphy

Dave Murphy is the founder and director of Food Democracy Now!, a sixth generation Iowan and an advocate for sustainable agriculture. In 2007, he organized the Food and Family Farm Presidential Summit, where 5 of the 6 Democratic candidates pledged their support to help save family farm agriculture and laid out their plans to create a more sustainable future for rural America. Previously, Dave has worked as a food policy lobbyist, political and media strategist, and has volunteered in political races including Senator Jim Webb's (D-VA) successful primary race and both the caucus and general election for Barack Obama. He received a B.A. in history and English from Dartmouth College and an MFA from Columbia University.

Lisa Stokke

Lisa is co-founder and assistant director for Food Democracy Now!.  Her efforts in recent years have been focused on creating a local food system in Northern Iowa as she has worked to source local foods and connect consumers with farmers who produce goods sustainably. She is a Slow Food leader in Clear Lake, Iowa, along with Paul Willis and has worked to educate Iowans regarding the necessity and healthfulness of local, organic and sustainable food for individuals and institutions.

During the past several years Lisa has organized dozens of events, including the Clear Lake Annual Earth Day Organic Lunch and also events surrounding the Iowa Farmer's Union 2007 Presidential Summit in Des Moines, Iowa working to showcase local and organic food, farmers and opportunities for her native home in Iowa.

As the mother of four children, Lisa spends a lot of her energies ensuring that they have local and sustainable food choices and a healthy, organic diet. She is currently working on school lunch reform through Food Democracy Now! and also within the local community school system. Lisa looks forward to the approaching change in administration and is hopeful that our new president will ensure the implementation of policy changes so that her children have a sustainable future in America.

Paul Willis

Paul is a hog farmer and Manger of Niman Ranch Pork Company.  He is the owner and operator of the Willis Free Range Pig Farm in Thornton, Iowa, where he lives with his wife, Phyllis.  In 1994, Paul was introduced to Bill Niman, and the two forged a ground-breaking partnership to sell natural pork from family farms using traditional, humane, animal husbandry.  Paul has been the subject of numerous feature-length articles and book chapters in books, such as Righteous Porkchop by Nicolette Hahn-Niman, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and the upcoming book, Gristle, edited by Miyun Park and Moby. 

Paul is currently the member of a committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences to undertake the project, 21st Century Systems Agriculture, which is studying the science and policies that influence the adoption of farming practices and management systems designed to reduce the costs and environmental effects of agricultural production. 

In 2003, along with Bill Niman, he was honored with the Good Neighbor Harvest Award by the Glynwood Center, an organization that works nationally and internationally to support sustainable agriculture.  Niman Ranch pork, which is 500+ family farmer strong, is marketed and sold in the finest retail outlets and restaurants throughout the country.


Aaron Woolf

Aaron is the director and producer of the critically acclaimed film, King Corn, his sixth feature documentary. Aaron’s last three films have aired nationally on PBS and look into the human consequences of government policy. In 2000, Woolf directed Greener Grass: Cuba, Baseball, and the United States, a WNET-ITVS co-production that received a Rockie Award.

In 2003, he directed Dying to Leave: The Global Face of Human Trafficking and Smuggling, which won an Australian Logie Award for best documentary series, aired as a two-hour special on the PBS series Wide Angle, and was screened at the State Department and the United Nations.

Aaron’s films have been broadcast worldwide and he has presented work and spoken on agriculture and immigration policy at numerous institutions including Stanford University, Yale, UCLA and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He is the founder of Mosaic Films Incorporated and holds a Masters degree in film and communications studies from the University of Iowa. In 2007, Woolf opened Urban Rustic, a Brooklyn NY grocery specializing in locally-sourced and organic foods.