Get Fresh News in Your Inbox
Sign up for our e-newsletter to see what's possible when we start with food.
Strengthening Local Food & Economies in Rural America
Free Virtual Roundtable
Recording Now Available
Fair Food Network’s Founder and Resident Champion Oran Hesterman leads an insightful conversation with Keith Schneider, Senior Editor at Circle of Blue and contributor to The New York Times and Jon Henry, Owner of Jon Henry General Store.
As rural America faces challenges from industry consolidation and the rise of big-box retailers, this virtual roundtable explores how small businesses, especially grocery stores, can thrive while boosting local economies. We dive into actionable solutions for keeping food local, how nonprofits and community initiatives are making an impact, and what we can all do to support the backbone of rural economies.
Meet the Speakers
Jon Henry
Owner, Jon Henry General Store
Jon Henry opened the Jon Henry General Store in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in 2018.The store partners with Virginia Fresh Match, Add Dairy, Virginia Family Nutrition Program, and Cooperative Extension to offer numerous incentives and opportunities for families to eat local healthy foods. Over 200 Virginian farmers are represented on the shop's shelves, freezers, and fridges. Jon Henry General Store has received grants from Local, State, and Federal Agencies to support their community's growth. VA Clean Cities recently helped install 6 EV Chargers alongside a 2,000 sq store expansion via VA Food Access Investment Fund. When not working, Jon often found sitting in silence at a Conservative Friends Meeting, singing Harmonia Sacra in barns, or wandering on federal public lands.
Keith Schneider
Senior Editor, Circle of Blue
Regular Contributor, The New York Times
Keith Schneider is a nationally known environmental journalist, online communications specialist, and environmental policy expert who’s reported from 35 countries on six continents. A former national correspondent and regular contributor to The New York Times, Keith’s career also includes reporting on the American West for The Los Angeles Times. In recent years, Keith focused his work on the national scandal of agricultural pollution in the Great Lakes and Corn Belt states, work funded by several national foundations and published in The New York Times, The Guardian, and over a dozen online public interest news sites in the U.S. Since 2007 he’s served as senior editor and chief correspondent for Circle of Blue, a news organization based in Traverse City, Michigan that reports intensively on the confrontation between rising demand for energy and food in an era of diminishing freshwater reserves. Keith is based in northern Michigan, where he’s lived since 1993.
Oran Hesterman
Founder & Resident Champion, Fair Food Network
With more than 40 years of experience as a scientist, farmer, philanthropist, businessman, educator, and passionate advocate, Oran is a pioneer of the good food movement. He founded Fair Food Network in 2009; under his leadership, the organization has seeded and scaled food-based solutions that improve healthy food access for families and economic equity for farmers and food businesses, both in Michigan and nationwide. Working at the intersection of food, health, and economic justice, Oran ushered Fair Food Network into impact investing, fueling the success of food entrepreneurs through catalytic capital, wrap-around business services, and a commitment to place-based impact investing collectives. He is the author of Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All, an inspiring guide to changing not only what we eat, but how food is grown, packaged, delivered, and sold.
A former fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program and the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy in Washington, D.C., Oran has published more than 400 reports and articles on subjects that include crop rotation, the impact of philanthropy on food systems practice and policy, and trends in the good food movement, among others.
Oran serves on the board or in an advisory role for a number of national and Michigan-based organizations, including Fair Food Fund, Five Acre Farms, Groundwork Center, NextCycle Michigan, and Pardes Hannah Jewish Renewal Community. He participates in the Editorial Board of the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.
