Kathy Kellogg Johnson

WARNING! Sewage sludge is toxic. Food should not be grown in "biosolids." Join the Food Rights Network.

Kathy Kellogg Johnson is the "Chief Sustainability Officer" for Kellogg Garden Products, a company founded by her grandfather, H. Clay Kellogg. Until 2012, Kellogg Garden Products markets products made with sewage sludge (renamed biosolids). They have since pursued OMRI certification which does not allow sewage sludge, and have switched to primarily wood-based products.

Kathy Kellogg Johnson Interviewed By Ken Spector at the 20th Annual EMA Award

According to her website, she "currently handles the various environmental issues that have an impact on the gardening industry and on the waste industry. ... Kellogg Garden Products has acquired a reputation for manufacturing the highest quality value added composts, organic fertilizers, and mulches, selling over 400 products to nearly 3500 customers throughout the western United States in the lawn and garden industry. ... Kathy’s passion for educating people on gardening has her on the Corporate Board of Advisors for Hollywood’s Environmental Media Association (EMA). She is also involved with Plant with Purpose to help educate impoverished and subsistence farmers in third world countries on how restoring their soil can improve their quality of life. She graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in International Finance, French and Spanish. Kathy taught the composting and marketing segments of U.C.L.A.’s Certificate course on Solid Waste Management. She has served as Chairperson of the Environmental Committees for California Association of Nurserymen and California Landscape Contractors Association and is currently VP of the Board for the Association of Compost Producers (ACP).

Kellogg is active in the US Composting Council (USCC), a sludge industry front group for dumping sewage sludge onto gardens and farms. The USCC sponsors in early May International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW), a yearly PR campaign by the USCC to promote dumping sewage sludge on gardens and farms. Jeff Ziegenbein of the giant Los Angeles, CA, Inland Empire Utility Agency (IEUA) coordinates the program for the USCC. IEUA used to supply the sewage sludge "compost" that is resold by Kellogg Garden Products. Kellogg now sources from Recycled Wood Products (RWP) and other organics manufacturers.

Kellogg Sludge Contaminates Organic School Gardens

Debbie Levin with Kathy Kellogg Johnson and Emmanuelle Chriqui at a school garden event.

In 2009, Kellogg Garden Products became a sponsor of the Environmental Media Association's organic school garden program, and Kathy Kellogg Johnson joined the EMA's Corporate Board. Sewage sludge is not permitted on organic farms and gardens, yet evidence shows that Kellogg donated hundreds of cubic feet of sludge-based products to the school gardens. Kellogg posed its sludge-based products in photos taken at school garden events attended by several Hollywood celebrities, gaining publicity and exposure for its products. For more information on the controversy, see the article on the Environmental Media Association.

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Kellogg Garden Products
• Sewage Sludge
• Biosolids
• Food Rights Network
• H. Clay Kellogg
• H. Clay "Hi" Kellogg
• H. Clay "Hap" Kellogg
• Janice Kellogg
• Environmental Media Association

Photos of Kathy Kellogg Johnson

Emmanuelle Chriqui with Debbie Levin, Kathy Kellogg Johnson, and students at Carson Senior High School with a bag of Kellogg's sludge-based product Gromulch. This photo was downloaded from Chriqui's website on May 7, 2011.

Screenshot of the above photo, showing the website it was taken from.

Another photo of Chriqui, Levin, and Kellogg Johnson with children at the same event.

Screenshot of the photo above, showing it was taken from the Yes to Carrots Facebook page. Screenshot taken May 8, 2011.

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