Speaker Category: Main Speakers

Dr. Len Marquart has focused his career on grains/whole grains and their impact on health. His career began at General Mills managing animal, epidemiological, clinical research with academic institutions, and supporting scientific initiatives related to policy and regulatory work. His teaching, research, and outreach have focused on whole grains and health via food systems approaches connecting the food value chain, food environments, and community settings. Dr. Marquart is founder and president of the Grains for Health Foundation, which facilitated communication and integration of science and technology into the grains supply chain designed to help deliver more grain-based foods to consumers that more closely meet dietary guidance.

Charles Steenwyk is the Director of Emerging Nutrition for the Ancient Grains and Heirloom Wheat categories. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University in Economics and has worked in various parts of the Food & Beverage and Ingredients industries over the past 21 years. Charles started his career in the CPG side of the industry in the Foodservice segment working for the HJ Heinz company for 11 years. The past 10 years has been spent working in both the Dairy and Plant-based nutrition categories with a strong focus in both Sales and Product Management. Some of his favorite times have been spent working with customers and assisting in the development of supply chains for Flax, Chia, Hemp, and Quinoa.

Eric Wenberg is the executive director of the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA). He retired in 2018 as a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Minister Counselor, after a 28-year…

Sue is the Founder and CEO of NetZero. She proudly lives and works in Minneapolis, MN—claiming more beachfront than its neighboring twin, St. Paul. Sue is partnering with Mother Nature to correct the mistakes of her generation and generations past. She spends her days collaborating with others that share her passion for economic & environmental sustainability while creating socially responsible initiatives. Sue spends her free time traveling the world in dedication to her role as a world-class mother and wife.

Earl Roemer is a fourth-generation agricultural producer and businessman from West Central Kansas with backgrounds in both animal and plant science. Earl has held state and national leadership roles in both the State of Kansas and National Sorghum Industry Organizations. Earl is the Founder and President of Nu Life Market. This company focuses on the production, milling, and processing of specific sorghum grains containing defined quality and chemistry characteristics for applications in the food and beverage industries. The sorghum grains utilized by Nu Life Market are produced under an extremely strict identity preservation and regenerative production management system by their team of growers to reduce carbon and other green-house gases being released into the atmosphere along with utilizing less of our natural resources in the production of the sorghum grains milled by this food company.

Ellen King, co-owner and director of baking operations at Hewn Bread (Evanston, IL and Libertyville, IL) got into bread making sort of by chance. After attending culinary school on the West Coast and working…

Glenn Roberts founded Anson Mills in 1998 in Charleston, South Carolina, to rematriate lost foods of the 18th and 19th century Southern Pantry. Today, Anson Mills grows and produces artisan organic landrace grain, legume…

Askegaard Organic Farm is a 6th generation family farm operated by Mark Askegaard & his daughter, Beth McConnon. The farm is located south of Moorhead, MN and encompasses approximately 980 tillable acres. The farm…

Patrick has been at Baker’s Field Flour and Bread for the last five and a half years. He started out with zero experience and acquired all of his baking and milling knowledge at Baker’s…