Mark Nicholson

Federal Policy Lead

Mark joined the Fair Food Network after an extensive career in leading organizations involved in national agriculture policy and specialty crop production.  He is a third-generation apple farmer and spent much of his professional life co-running a New York-based family business, including developing value-added products to increase revenue to the farm. His work advocating for the specialty crop industry over the past two decades earned him national recognition as a skilled and dedicated policy expert, included roles as the Chairman of the Board and member of the Government Affairs Committee for the U.S. Apple Association (USApple). Mark also spent time in his early career working in government at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and at USApple. Mark brings multiple perspectives to the agriculture policy world, and a strong passion and understanding for the myriad issues that face family farms today.

Mark is a graduate of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and leads Fair Food Network’s federal policy program in the Washington, DC office. When not trying to figure out win-win policy solutions for Fair Food Network, he will most likely be involved with family activities, often driving somewhere in the greater DC metropolitan area for kids’ activities.