ADVISORY PANEL

A Monterey, Calif. Native and Fresno Bulldog Alumni, Diaz has spent her career in produce driving for meaningful change, developing profound partnerships, and spreading her joy and passion for all things produce. A blended background with produce experience in logistics, supply chain, food service, and retail, Diaz is an energetic leader, not afraid to approach complex problems in unorthodox ways. Known for her unwavering drive and passion, she approaches her work with a blend of creativity and competitiveness that constantly leads to growth and new opportunities. With a focus on forward-looking strategies, Diaz is dedicated to driving consumption and enhancing consumer engagement and education within the produce industry.

Doty has been a leader at Whole Foods Market since 2004, holding various leadership roles across store, produce, and the perishable supply chain teams. His passion for operational excellence, customer experience, driving innovation, and being a champion for organic agriculture and social responsibility across the supply chain, guides his work. He is a trusted servant leader who empowers team members to be their best and have fun while doing incredibly meaningful work.

Before working at Viva Terra, Ford was the organic and food service category manager for Oppy. He has also worked in management and purchasing at Alfalfa’s and Wild Oats Markets, commodity management at Earthbound Farm and Global Produce, and a floral purchasing team leader for Whole Foods Market. As global senior produce buyer at Whole Foods, Ford was a daily purchaser of table grape, apple, pear and stone fruit.

Foster has long been involved in certified organic food and agricultural projects. His 30 years in corporate, small-scale and nonprofit enterprises have earned him national recognition in organic certification and policy, business strategy, growth management, and strategic planning — all focused on developing and growing the organic sector. For more than 10 years, he managed organic compliance at Earthbound Farm and then was director of supply chain strategy under White Wave Foods and Danone NA ownership. He is experienced in the development, implementation and monitoring of National Organic Program standards for crop production, livestock, processing, wholesale, distribution and retail operations. For the last three years, Foster has focused on business growth, including new regulations under the Strengthening Organic Enforcement initiative. 

Landi has worked for over two decades in service of the organic food and agricultural trade, from a number of different multifunction leadership roles in California, the Pacific Northwest and New England. His career has included stints in retail, wholesale distribution, international trade and more recently as part of a regional start up effort in Vermont. Landi also previously served as board chair for OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute), board president for the SFTA (Sustainable Food Trade Association) and as a board member for the Homeless Garden Project. He also wrote a food and agriculture column in the Santa Cruz Sentinel titled “County Bounty,” and earlier this year stepped into his new role at OTA.

Linsky’s career of more than 35 years has taken him from a small natural-food store to the boardrooms of more than a dozen companies. Along the way, he has built some of the most prolific organic produce brands in the world. In 2015, he formed Todd Linsky Consulting, known as TLC, to advise industry investors, startups, retailers and growers. His client list includes national and international groups in the produce, medical cannabis and hemp industries. Linsky has helped people and companies — from students’ edible gardens to lobbyists to retail dietitians.

McKeon oversees organic compliance and regenerative organic practices for farming and processing at Taylor Farms. He also supports field food safety research, agronomic and biodiversity programs and trials, and quality management. He has worked at Taylor Farms and Earthbound Farm for 15 years, working in field and facility food safety, international organic supply chain compliance, and organic ag operations. Before working there, he was at California Certified Organic Farmers for 10 years — first as an intern, then certification director and last as an inspector. He studied horticulture, sustainable agriculture and environmental studies at Cabrillo College and the University of California, Santa Cruz. 

Morgan is the CEO of Rooted Ag Inc. and founder of Soil Health Lab LLC, with nearly 30 years of experience in pest control, soil science, and regenerative agriculture. A Cal Poly SLO Fruit Science graduate and former VP of Environmental Science at Braga Fresh, Morgan is a frequent public speaker on regenerative farming and organic agriculture and its vital role in the future of agriculture. He helps brands as a trusted ambassador, identifying market fit for innovative ag products. Morgan also serves as an advisor to The Reservoir and consults as a crop solutions expert for growers.

Mosso works alongside growers to improve approaches to food safety and sustainability challenges. She has a background in Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment, building microbial testing laboratories, evaluating and designing microbial diagnostic tools/approaches, and firsthand produce experience, managing food safety for global supply chains. Before Western Growers, she was Senior Director of Technical & Regulatory Affairs for the Organic Trade Association (OTA), was the chief scientific officer for the Eurofins Produce, and held food safety and business leadership roles at Earthbound Farm and Olam Spice & Vegetable Ingredients. She holds a B.S from the University of Maryland in Microbiology with honors in Molecular Biology and holds an M.S. in Food Science focused on pathogenic food microbiology from the University of California, Davis.

Peterson is founder of Abundant Harvest Organics, a stone fruit farming company based in Kingsburg, Calif., that is certified Organic and Global Gap by CCOF, Regenerative by ROC and socially responsible by EFI. The farm anchors a merry band of about 20 other farmers who all have achieved the same certifications. The fruit is represented to retail by Homegrown Organic Farms. He is also President of The Peterson Family, a packing company operating in Kingsburg since 1893. It is a year-round operation handling Stone fruit, Citrus and a few Pomegranates and Persimmons for about 100 of their neighbors.