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John R. (Jack) Block joined the Board of Directors in January 2004. Mr. Block has served as Senior Policy Advisor for Olsson Frank Weeda P.C. since January 2006. From January 2003 through December 2005 Mr. Block served as the Executive Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute a trade association in Washington D.C. From 1986 until December 2002 Mr. Block was President and Chief Executive Officer of Food Distributors International and the International Foodservice Distributors Association (NAWGA/IFDA). Mr. Block was appointed to President Reagan’s Cabinet in 1981 and served for five years as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a member of the Reagan Cabinet and a key member of the Economic Policy Council he dealt with a wide range of complex domestic farm program and tax issues. Under his leadership the Department of Agriculture’s Food for Peace Program was a primary resource in feeding the starving African continent. During his tenure as Secretary of Agriculture Mr. Block visited more than 30 foreign countries meeting with heads of state and agriculture ministers from all over the globe and negotiating sensitive agreements critical to U.S. farm interests. From 1977 to 1981 he served as Director of Agriculture for the State of Illinois. Mr. Block currently has a syndicated weekly radio commentary broadcast by more than 600 stations in 30 states. Mr. Block serves on a number of corporate boards including NYSE-listed Hormel Foods Corporation. He is on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Friends of the World Food Programme a joint initiative of the United Nations and the Food and Agricultural Organization Chairman of the Agribusiness Alliance of the Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs in Washington and on the Advisory Board of the Illinois Global Partnership. | 