John Molseed

1. Reasons for Running

I’ve been a PFC member since moving to Rochester in 2018. I joined because I believe in supporting my community and local and regional producers.

I would like an opportunity to do more to help shape PFC’s future, grow membership and to help share the stories PFC already tells about the people and businesses behind locally produced food there. I think serving on the board would also allow me to better learn the perspectives of our local food producers and what I can do to better support them.

 2. Relevant Skilss

I believe my skills in writing, communication and community building would be useful to the board and the PFC.

I have also authored successful grants for nonprofits and have built coalitions of supporters for public fundraising campaigns. I have created visual, informative presentations to governing boards on behalf of nonprofits and businesses that I’ve worked with.

3. Relevant Experience

I am a longtime journalist who enjoys digging through complex information and creating informative, coherent narratives.

I authored an award-winning column for a daily newspaper called Greenspace that focused on environmental issues including land use, stewardship, sustainability and urban homesteading.

I have served on multiple nonprofit boards including as president of the Main Street Waterloo board and co-founded the Save the Waterloo Wonderbread Building (we did).

4. Upcoming Challenges

Inflation has increased costs for shoppers and everyone along the food production and supply chain.

Keeping costs down for customers but supporting PFC partners and producers will likely become more of a challenge.

Building local resilience by supporting producers helps mitigate rising costs, but won’t offset them indefinitely.

Federal funding has been cut for farm-to-shelf programs. Costs for maintaining the brick-and mortar stores are also rising.

Staffing appears to be a challenge at both locations and has affected some of the services available at the Rochester store.

5. Opportunities for PFC

These challenging times help more people understand the PFC goals and the importance of local food production. More people are learning how local food production builds resiliency against rising food costs and supply chain disruptions.

This can help people feel less helpless and help grow PFC membership as we share that message. Statewide and locally, there is a desire to fill gaps left by federal cuts to the USDA’s local food purchase programs. Rising to these challenges presents opportunities.