OTA
Besides her many accomplishments in the organic sector, Kelly Shea of WhiteWave Foods majored in Ancient Japanese Theater. Samantha Cabaluna of Earthbound Farm, who plays guitar, used to be in an all-girl rock band called Amazon Mollies. Tony Bedard, CEO of Frontier Co-op, loves working on his 40-acre farm where he is restoring 20 acres of native prairie and taking care of over 800 trees that he has planted. Meanwhile, David Lively of Organically Grown Company is a comic strip aficionado.
The Organic Trade Association's 15-member Board of Directors is democratically elected by the association's Trade members who are engaged in some aspect of the organic sector. Each Trade member company, regardless of size, has one vote. One of the Board seats is designated to a Farmer Board member. Learn more about our Board members' professional bios here.
These are some of the fun facts the Organic Report has learned about those now serving on OTA’s Board of Directors. Here are some other insights about our Board members.
Tony Bedard, CEO, Frontier Co-op
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? I grew up on a small farm in Iowa that did not use synthetic pesticides and herbicides. While not totally organic in the 1970s, we were close. My first true immersion into organic is when I joined Frontier as the head of our operation nearly 25 years ago.
What do you do for fun? Work on my 40-acre farm
Ryan Benn, President, Alive Publishing Group:
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? I started running the Alive Publishing Group—which strongly believes in the fundamentals of organic—10 years ago. Since then, I have become personally passionate about all things food.
What do you do for fun? Backyard farming
Sarah Bird, Chief Marketing Officer, Three Twins Ice Cream
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? My first foray into organic was working on the Fantastic Foods and Annie’s brands in 2000.
What do you do for fun? Hiking
Fun Fact: Sarah has been an urban “farmer” of sorts, raising a brood of organic chickens until about a year ago when a fox found them.
Samantha Cabaluna, Managing Director, Brand Communications, Earthbound Farm
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? I’d eaten organic for years, but when I was looking for a new job, I heard that Earthbound Farm was looking for a copywriter/researcher. As it happened, one of the hiring managers was in my Saturday yoga class—Peggy Miars, who you probably know from CCOF and OMRI. I connected with her in class, submitted my resume and wound up getting the job. That was April 2003.
What do you do for fun? Going to hear music
Fun Fact: Samantha had 20 rose bushes that she cultivated organically along with everything else in her garden. She used to hand-pick snails out of the garden and toss them into the street for the crows.
Perry Clutts, Owner, Pleasantview Farm
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? There was a tenant on our family's farm who was interested in organic production back in the mid-1980s and we weren't sure what he was talking about. As he learned more, he taught us more, and in 2000, I began on-farm composting to help with soil quality and carbon sequestration to help him build confidence for the switch away from synthetic inputs.
What do you do for fun? Renovating and restoring houses
Fun Fact: A general contractor for 15 years prior to farming, Perry is committed to being a farmer, but also to educating other farmers, his community and the public about organic agriculture.
Rick Collins, Executive Vice President of Sales, Clif Bar & Company
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? I have always been concerned about the environment. I grew up in the Midwest and loved to hike in the nearby woods. Organic food and farming have been a natural extension of my environmentalism. I have to say it has also improved my health!
What do you do for fun? Camping
Fun Fact: Rick remembers his parents were concerned about how the herbicides and pesticides applied nearby would affect the family’s health.
Kim Dietz, Senior Manager, Compliance & Industry Relations, Smuckers Natural Foods
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? My step-father Harold introduced our family to organic foods and sustainability, and our city backyard was converted to an organic garden. His influence and my mother’s Italian heritage resulted in a culture of cooking good food. My first “paid” experience in organic was when I became the organic buyer for the R.W. Knudsen juice company in the 1980s.
What do you do for fun? Riding motorcycles
Fun Fact: Kim owns and manages rental houses, and lives in an “off the grid” home in the foothills of Northern California where she enjoys riding motorcycles.
Dag Falck, Organic Program Manager, Nature’s Path Foods
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? In agriculture school in Norway some three and a half decades ago, I could not wrap my head around the practice of pouring toxins on the land where food was grown to speed up harvest. A decade later in British Columbia, Canada, I was offered a job as the first organic inspector for Islands Organic Producers Association, and only then did my agronomic background start to make sense to me.
What do you do for fun? Kayaking
Fun Fact: Dag hopes to see the day when organic practices are used on enough acres and in enough different agronomic circumstances that they become the norm.
Melissa Hughes, General Counsel & Director of Government Relations, Organic Valley
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? My husband first worked for an organic company while I worked at a law firm representing oil and gas companies (the Dark Side!). Now, we both work for Organic Valley (I have the best lawyering job in the country). He helped me understand when we had twins how important it was for them to eat organic food, and for us too.
What do you do for fun? Running marathons
Fun Fact: Melissa, whose children go to a school offering an all-organic hot lunch every day, believes that with a little thought and effort, organic food could break barriers into school lunch programs and everyone’s cupboards.
The 15 members on OTA’s Board of Directors collectively represent 342 years in the organic movement. The least years by an individual: 10 years. The most: 40 years.
Jesse Laflamme, Co-Owner, Pete and Gerry’s Organics LLC
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? I was raised on homemade organic baby food made from our family gardens. My folks may not have considered themselves hippies, but they were philosophically aligned. Our family has farmed since the 1770s. My grandfather started the poultry portion in 1951, and we converted it to organic in 1998.
What do you do for fun? Mountain biking
Fun Fact: Proudly admitting that “organic literally saved our family farm,” Jesse says he hopes his children will be interested in taking over the business when they are older.
David Lively, VP Sales & Marketing, Organically Grown Company
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? I was raised on homemade organic baby food made from our family gardens. My folks may not have considered themselves hippies, but they were philosophically aligned. Our family has farmed since the 1770s. My grandfather started the poultry portion in 1951, and we converted it to organic in 1998.
What do you do for fun? Writing poetry and fiction
Fun Fact: David, who has a deep interest in organic seeds, aims to draw all the characters he has loved for years in newspaper comics, and paste them into new story lines after he retires.
Melody Meyer, VP Corporate Social Responsibility, Policy & Industry Relations, UNFI
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? At the age of 16, I went to work in a Natural Foods Coop in Iowa City, I was part of the back-to-the-land movement. I packed my bags and followed the Grateful Dead, which eventually landed me in Santa Cruz County, the hotbed of the burgeoning organic movement. I worked at Community Foods and bought produce from all the local organic producers such as Molino Creek Farms and Earthbound Farms—this was in the 1980s.
What do you do for fun? Volunteering on organic agricultural projects in developing countries
Fun Fact: An avid cook who studied in France and Italy, Melody enjoys the rich organic culinary abundance of her local community to create dinner parties with friends and family.
Kelly Shea, Vice President of Government & Industry Relations, WhiteWave Foods
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? I had a Prevention magazine mom, so I grew up with a garden, composting, canning and drying, and making our own yogurt, sprouts and bread. When I graduated from college and was waiting tables, I began helping organic farmers combine their harvest to serve area chefs. Then I took a job with the Minnesota Trade Office heading up organic exports to Japan. I met some of the fabulous founders of our community as I helped them export organic products.
What do you do for fun? Being a certified reading junkie
Fun Fact: Kelly was chosen to represent organic and value-added ag on the Future Farmers of America Foundation Sponsors Board and is a member of the Farm Foundation Farm Table.
Marci Zaroff, Founder, Under the Canopy/President, Portico Brands
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? In the early 1980s, I was given a copy of a book called "Living in the Light," which took me down the rabbit hole of conscious living. In 2002, I was a part of the founding group of Organic Exchange. In the early years, I worked on organic cotton education. From farmers to certifiers, manufacturers, brands and retailers, we’ve now grown global organic fiber product sales from $245 million in 2002 to over $16 billion in 2015.
What do you do for fun? Studying ancient art and quantum physics
Fun Fact: In 2003, Marci was invited to spend the weekend with Prince Charles to discuss Connecting Consumers to Organic Agriculture.
Leslie Zuck, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO)
How did you first come to find yourself in organic? I have been involved in organic farming for 30 years, and active in OTA for several decades. I am co-founder of PCO, a non-profit organic certification agency in Pennsylvania, and have been the Executive Director since 1997. I have been on board at PCO from its humble beginning when I was the only employee, and have helped the organization grow from 25 certified operations to more than 1,000.
What do you do for fun? Fostering homeless dogs
Fun Fact: Leslie, a lawyer and community volunteer, produces organic vegetables, seedlings, dairy heifers, sheep and wool on her farm. //
