Jan 8, 2021

Cornucopia Institute names new executive director

The board of The Cornucopia Institute recently voted unanimously to promote longtime staff member Melody Morrell as the organization’s next executive director.

The Wisconsin-based organization is a self-described “research group and watchdog” whose activities include investigations of organically-certified farm operations and issuing scorecards rating various organic brands, according to a news release from the group.

Prior to joining Cornucopia in 2012, Morrell spent 15 years in nonprofit event planning, communications, operations, and direct programs, according to a news release. Her history includes a formative five years at Echo Valley Hope, an educational non-profit.

Morrell’s interest in food began in her family’s Spicer, Minnesota supper club, where she watched her father provide weekly free meals during the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, according to the news release. She had a front-row seat to the difficulites of migrant fieldworkers and the perilous finances of conventional turkey farmers on contract with large companies, Cornucopia said.

“My deep love of food, and the soil it comes from, have made me a fierce protector of organic integrity,” she said in the news release.

“This year and beyond, Cornucopia will incorporate new technologies into our industry investigations and deepen our policy efforts, strengthening our position in the good food movement as a trusted ally and a catalyst for meaningful change,” she said. “We will continue pointing to the most ethical organic farmers, helping community members, co-ops, and natural food stores find and support farms and products they can trust, while giving our supporters more concrete ways to step into the role of food system advocate.”