FOOD DAY STAFF
Hayley Gillooly came to the food movement by way of her passion for environmental protection and sustainability. Prior to joining the Food Day team, she worked at the League of Conservation Voters to mobilize pro-environment voters and engender national support for strong environmental and clean energy policies. In 2010, she served as the volunteer coordinator in the re-election campaign of Loretta Sanchez, a pro-environment California member of Congress. She was especially drawn to sustainable agriculture and food system issues, and jumped at the chance to bring her political and grassroots organizing experience to the Food Day campaign. A native of health-conscious southern California and graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara , Hayley grew up eating her fruits and veggies (though she didn't try kale until recently). Her favorite Food Day memory is of milking her very first goat at an organic farm outside Ann Arbor, Michigan. Email Hayley Gillooly.
Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and founder of Food Day 2011. Jacobson is author or co-author of numerous books and reports, including: Six Arguments for a Greener Diet, Restaurant Confidential, The Fast-Food Guide, Nutrition Scoreboard; Salt: The Brand Name Guide to Sodium, Eater's Digest: The Consumer's Factbook of Food Additives, Liquid Candy, and Salt: The Forgotten Killer. Over the years, he has led campaigns for healthier diets and against trans fat, salt, soft drinks, olestra, food dyes, and other unhealthy ingredients. Jacobson is the recipient of the Food and Drug Administration's Commissioner's Special Citation and Harvey W. Wiley Medal, the Food Marketing Institute's Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award, and the CDC-Foundation's Hero award.
Catherine Kastleman joined the Food Day team as a Project Coordinator in May of 2011. She came to CSPI after finishing her undergraduate degree in American Studies with a concentration in Food, Health, and Environment at Yale University. As an undergraduate, Catherine was an employee of the Yale Sustainable Food Project, which helped to spark her interest in sustainable farming systems. After graduation she spent several months working on organic farms in France and then as an EBT/SNAP outreach coordinator at her hometown farmers' market in Carrboro, North Carolina. She also volunteered as a nutrition educator at a local school garden and science lab and learned to appreciate the importance of grassroots activism and education (and the people who are behind it!). One of her standout memories from last year's Food Day campaign was tasting locally-raised, grass-fed elk meat in Lawrence, Kansas. Email Catherine Kastleman.
Lilia Smelkova worked for Slow Food International in Italy for 10 years and initiated the Slow Food network in Eastern and Central Europe and Canada. She supervised international communications and directed the launch of an international education program that birthed the first European network of sustainable school cafeterias. She also worked on the core team that planned the first Terra Madre, a meeting of food communities from 150 countries. Lilia holds a BA from Minsk Linguistics University in Belarus (she is fluent in Italian, Russian, English, French, and Spanish), a Master's in languages from Turin University in Italy, and a certificate in environmental management from UC Berkeley, where she co-authored a nutrition education study. She recently guided an expedition of Italian scientists along the Silk Road to research food preferences and genetics. She believes that food is among the best ways to experience the world, especially Uzbek pilaf, Pamir mountain mulberries, and Transylvanian jams. Email Lilia Smelkova.
