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About Us
Our Team
Jim Slama is a social entrepreneur, communications professional and the founder and president of FamilyFarmed.org. He was also the founder and president of Sustain, and was the founding publisher and editor of Conscious Choice magazine. Jim played a key role in developing and helping to pass the Illinois Food, Farms and Jobs Act, which has been hailed as model legislation to build a local food system. The law created the Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force, charged with developing a plan and funding recommendations to be presented to the Governor and State Legislature. Jim is a member of this task force.
Jim created FamilyFarmed.org to encourage the production, marketing and distribution of locally grown and responsibly produced food and goods. FamilyFarmed.org efforts include developing and expanding the market for locally and responsibly produced foods, supporting and creating farmers markets, and playing an integral role in public policy in the state and region.
Jim launched Sustain in 1996, following a successful multimedia campaign, which shut down an incinerator that generated 150,000 pounds of lead each year. Sustain went on to become one of the country’s leading environmental communication groups and had many regional and national victories. These included the Keep Organic Organic Campaign, which was accomplished in partnership with the Organic Trade Association. The effort helped generated 275,000 comments to the USDA opposing standards that would have allowed food that was genetically engineered irradiated and grown in sewage sludge to be called organic. Other victories included stopping the state of Michigan from drilling for oil on the shores of Lake Michigan and forcing Congress to adopt a real recycling program when it was exposed that they were only pretending.
FamilyFarmed.org also hosts the annual FamilyFarmed EXPO, a fall harvest festival, trade show, and celebration of local food and goods. The purpose is to link some of the Midwest’s best local farmers and family-owned producers of food and farm products with the public, trade buyers and leaders in the field to foster relationships that facilitate the growth of local food systems. Each year the FamilyFarmed EXPO draws thousands of consumers and trade buyers. In 2007, FamilyFarmed.org’s work earned the Yahoo! for Good Green Award.
Jim was the founding publisher and editor of Conscious Choice magazine and during his 14 years tenure, it was named nine times by The Utne Reader as a member of the Best of the Alternative Press. Conscious Choice is now owned by the public company Gaiam, and is part of a chain of magazines published in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Jim’s skill as a social entrepreneur led to his designation on the Crain’s Chicago Business “Forty Under Forty” annual list of leading business and civic leaders. In 2005, Jim received the Chicago Tribune Good Eating Award for his contributions to the Chicago food and beverage world. His work has been featured in Chicago Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, The New York Times, Ode Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Utne Reader among others.
Holly Haddad serves as program manager for FamilyFarmed.org where she oversees market development, program planning and program execution. With a background in both natural foods and in the non-profit sector, she has worked for local producers, retail and wholesale markets. Her experience ranges from artisanal producers to family-owned wineries and independent grocers to national distributors. Additionally, Holly has worked for the Program on Agricultural Technology Studies at the University of Wisconsin, managed new program development at a rural Community Action Program in Washington state, and conducted community development research in Washington, D.C. Holly has a background in dispute resolution and is as passionate about sustainable community and economic development as she is about locally grown and responsibly produced foods.
Lloyd Yanis is the director of the FamilyFarmed EXPO and brings more than twenty years of exposition management experience to the annual event, including responsibility for managing over 400 similar events — ranging in attendance from 50 people to 150,000 — in consumer and trade-show arenas. Lloyd’s career highlights include eight years as manager of the Miami Boat Show, the third largest trade show in the United States. As General Manager of the boating industry’s trade association, he was significantly involved in the development of a nationwide tour of twenty-five annual boat shows with 500,000 annual attendees.
John Beske is a designer and art director who creates the graphic identity for FamilyFarmed.org. He was the co-founder and long-time creative director of Sustain, and designed most of its successful campaigns. As creative director at Sustain, John oversaw the design of the Keep Organic Organic Campaign, which helped generate 275,000 comments opposing USDA standards, which would have allowed food that was genetically engineered, irradiated and grown in sewage sludge to be labeled as organic. John’s work with Sustain helped prevent oil drilling on the shores of Lake Michigan, encouraged the creation of tough federal clean air standards that save 15,000 lives per year and helped to force Congress to develop a real recycling campaign. He is the president of John Beske Communications, which provides marketing and design solutions for a range of small businesses and nonprofit groups.
Lynn Peemoeller is a food systems planner who works on projects and policy to support sustainable agriculture, strengthen the local food system and encourage environmentally sound economic development. She has more than 10 years of experience with farmers markets throughout the country as both a farmer vendor and administrator. Lynn worked for Greenmarket in New York City for five years, covering all aspects of program management, new market development and community outreach. She was the first market manager at Chicago’s Green City Market, which has grown to be the largest producer-only market in Chicago. Recently, Lynn was the program director at Sustain and was the show director of the FamilyFarmed EXPO. Currently she is an independent consultant working on community food plans and was a lead consultant with FamilyFarmed.org on the development of the Bronzeville Community Market. She is on the board of directors for Slow Food Chicago and a Co-Chair of the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council.
Board
Charlotte Flinn, President, Flinn Consultants
Dr. Wes Jarrell, Professor, University of Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources
and Environmental Sciences
Warren King, President, Wellspring Management
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