Ken Meter is one of the most experienced food system analysts in the US, integrating market analysis, business development, systems thinking, and social concerns. Ken holds more than 50 years of experience in inner-city and rural community capacity building. His local economic analyses have promoted local food networks in 155 regions in 42 states, two provinces, and four tribal nations. He developed strategic regional food plans for 20 regions across the US. Ken consulted with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and Colorado State University as one of 14 coauthors of a toolkit for measuring economic impacts of local food development.
Ken is author of Building Community Food Webs, published in 2021. He served as coeditor of Sustainable Food System Assessment: Lessons from Global Practice, published in 2019. He is also a member of the International Economic Development Council and the American Evaluation Association, invited to speak to leadership groups of both organizations.