A Conversation with Rich Pirog (February 2011)

This month Rich Pirog, associate director of ISU’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, announced he had accepted a position at Michigan State University. In May, he will become senior associate director of the Center for Sustainable Food Systems at MSU. Pirog recently reflected on his nearly 21 years with the Leopold Center and what he sees in the future.

Tell us more about your new position at Michigan State University.

Michigan State is merging several institutes and centers to form the Center for Sustainable Food Systems. I’ll be the senior associate director, serving under the director, Dr. Michael Hamm. I’ll be leading efforts on building food system networks across the state to help achieve goals outlined in Michigan’s local food charter. I’ll be supervising staff who’ll be working on food systems production, marketing, distribution and economic development. There’ll be another associate director hired who’ll focus on health and policy issues. All the programs are still coming together, so I’ll be helping to develop this new center with Dr. Hamm over the next year. I’ll have a small extension appointment, the same as I did here at Iowa State, so I’ll continue to be involved in education and outreach at MSU.

What kind of opportunity is this for you?

It was a great opportunity, both personally and professionally, that will hopefully see me through the rest of my career. It’s a chance for a new start for me and my wife. On a personal note, I grew up on the East Coast and was always close to the water. My wife and I wanted to move closer to a large body of water. We’ll be a short distance from Lake Michigan. That was important for us to be closer to the water.

You’ll be moving from one land-grant university to another. Was that important to you?

The land-grant mission remains very important. I really believe the work the Leopold Center has done, and the work of our marketing and food systems initiative, is very true to the land-grant mission. We have built coalitions and networks to solve problems of ordinary Iowans — and to do it in a way that there’s a lot more partnerships across organizations than there was 5 or 10 years ago. That’s been positive.

So it’s been 20 years since you joined the Leopold Center staff?

It was 20 years last October. I started as education coordinator and for several years focused on building educational programs for the center, to carry out that part of our mission to work with extension and transfer results. Then my work moved more into marketing and food systems. In 2001, I became the program leader for our Marketing and Food Systems Initiative. In 2007, I was named the associate director and continued to lead marketing and food systems, but also was in charge of new program development and overseeing evaluation.

What do you feel have been your main accomplishments with the Leopold Center?

Building the Value Chain Partners network of working groups has brought in a lot of resources and helped people solve problems in a more coordinated way. Helping to build the networks and having a chance to inform people and policymakers on the opportunities has been important.

Putting together the Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan for the legislature this past year was an experience of a lifetime. I learned more about state government and state policy than I ever expected to. I never thought when I was hired in 1990 that I’d be testifying in front of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees. Already I’ve heard that two of the plan’s recommendations that do not require legislative action are going to happen. It’s very satisfying. It’s a very positive story, an example that the center and Iowa State can be helpful to inform those who make policy decisions. Statewide, the center and Iowa State built a lot of bridges and a lot of positive relationships because we visited all of the agencies and organizations named in the plan. And they all showed up in January when we outlined the plan publicly. Overall, I think the work in local foods has helped build a stronger local food network in the state.

I was part of the effort that resulted in starting ISU’s MBA program with a minor in sustainable agriculture. Eight students have been through the program, either ending with the minor or getting dual degrees, the MBA and a master’s in sustainable ag. Working with students, although a small part of what I’ve done, has been a real joy.

Do you have a sense of what direction local foods in Iowa may go in the years ahead?

What I hope we’ll see is business and community leaders continuing to view local foods as a viable rural and economic development option and starting to invest in it. In some counties where there’s been the most legwork, they are starting to put in money in building that capacity. When they do that, other dollars follow, from federal, state, foundations and more. The Leopold Center has helped get things started because we ought to be at the cutting edge of innovation. But now it’s up to communities and leaders to take over. Our work with 14 regional food groups has been a great experience. They’ve built their leadership and are ready to lead the group, which has been our plan all along. I’ll be helping with that transition up until I leave for Michigan State.

If there’s one thing you’d want Iowans to understand — or better understand —about local foods, what would it be?

Local foods really isn’t about mileage or distance. It’s about the relationships that are built in the food chain. It’s about farmers and local communities getting a higher percentage of the food dollar. That could manifest itself in many ways. It doesn’t have to be a farmer selling directly to a consumer at a farmers market. It could be a farmer processing his beef at the local locker or plant and selling it regionally. Again, those dollars change hands in that community. It’s about relationships and rural economic development. But it’s also broader than that. Some groups that are forming have more of an urban base. Also, there are still stereotypes that local foods equals organic. Organic is a production method. Local foods is about relationships and proximity.

Also, Iowa’s future will be more multicultural. Local foods is a great avenue for those minority entrepreneurs, especially in starting small scale, family-run businesses. We need to take advantage of those aspiring Latino, Asian, Sudanese and other cultures in the state. Many of the leaders in the future will be women. Of our 14 local food groups, 12 are led by women. When the history is written about local food in Iowa, many of the stories will be about women. It’s been great to see that leadership emerge.

What research questions need to be answered for the future of local foods?

The local foods movement was started and led by farmers, community leaders and nonprofit organizations. As local foods has grown in popularity, there are a number of important research questions emerging. Before people or communities or states invest in local foods, they want to know if local foods improve local economies. In our work with [ISU economists] Dave Swenson and Dan Otto, we’ve shown that there are modest job gains. But other questions remain. Is local food better for the environment? If there were more local food jobs, would it affect out-migration in rural communities? Is the local food supply chain any safer than a conventional chain? We need to answer the sustainability questions with local foods. We need rigorous, peer reviewed research studies to answer these questions. That’s why the research role for the university is more important now than ever. This role is unique to the university, it’s what our strength is. It’s a great opportunity for land-grants, in partnership with farmers and nonprofits. Sustainability and resilience truly are the goals.

I also think the future for local food will depend in part in finding more sound business models that are scalable. We need better business models and better business development planning. There’s also infrastructure questions. For example, crop insurance options for growing fruits and vegetables are pretty poor. There’s also a need to establish better opportunities for contracts for growers.

After your “food miles” report became so well known, you took a flood of media calls and other contacts that went on for years. Though it’s slowed down, you still get contacted regularly. Do you think that’s what you’ll be best known for, in your work at Iowa State?

The “food miles” report certainly got the most headlines, but what I’d most like to be remembered for here is the networks and relationships around the state. That is what has built the kind of goodwill we’ve seen across all kinds of partners in the state. Our working groups have involved sustainable ag groups, environmental groups, Farm Bureau and commodity groups. I’ve always believed the only way we can get to real progress is to find a space in the middle.

Have you had a favorite quote that’s been helpful to you over the years?

Yes, it’s something Dick Thompson said years ago about what Practical Farmers of Iowa was all about, and it’s always stuck with me. He said, “Get along, but don’t go along.” I always thought it was important to get along with folks. You may not always agree with what everyone has to say, but you need to treat everyone with respect. For me, the most important thing is to be a servant leader and try to lead by serving others. That’s what I’ve tried to do and will continue to try to do in my future.

Any other thoughts you’d like to share?

It’s been a great ride, and see this new opportunity as another chapter of my life unfolding. It’s been my privilege to work for all the center’s directors, the leadership in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and for all the great people across the state. In the past year, Lois [Morton, Leopold Center interim director] has done a great job and treated me with a great deal of respect. The college has been supportive and came through when we needed matching funds for our big Kellogg grant. When we needed assistantships for the MBA and sustainable ag minor, the college and the College of Business came through.

I’ve always considered myself a very positive, upbeat person. Those who know me know that I have an unconventional sense of humor. It’s always been my way to get perspective on problems and work and life. I think it’s important to always find what’s positive in a situation and find ways to lift that up.

Back to February 8, 2011 news release