Meet Our Board Members

The Farm-to-Consumer Foundation Board Members include:

Tim Wightman - Interim President

Tim has been in agriculture all of his life. He has pioneered CSAs, organic cooperatives, farmers' markets, the Cow-share program, Farm-share program, Milk Direct raw milk testing program while living in Northern Wisconsin. Tim now lives in Western Ohio with his wife Carrie and their three children and is currently operating a small raw milk dairy. Tim consults worldwide with dairy farmers on raw milk safety and direct marketing. He also is a consultant for Midwestern Bio-Ag on enhancing the soil system to increase soil fertility issues and herd health management and nutrient density in food and feed. He is an instructor in Cow-Share College & Goat-Share University and the author of the “Raw Milk Handbook".

Peter Kennedy, Esq. – Vice President

He has represented or assisted in the representation of dairy farmers facing possible state enforcement action in Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

Pete is currently working with others to challenge the federal ban on the interstate shipment of raw milk for human consumption.

Erika Ramthun – Treasurer

Erika is a practicing accountant who works mainly with non-profits. She juggles her business with caring for her three young boys and has a vested interest in ensuring a healthful intact food supply. She holds a Masters of Business degree and is a former Certified Public Accountant in inactive status.

She and her husband Ted raise 100% Grass-fed beef utilizing sustainable practices, at their family owned farm (Stevens Creek Ranch) in East Texas.

Pat is passionate about the rights of farmers to produce nutrient dense foods sustainably, and the rights of consumers to purchase directly from the farm. She feels that it is imperative that we protect our rights to produce and consume farm fresh chemical free food for future generations.

Peggy Beals, RN

Peggy is an educator, author and community activist.  She has worked with grass roots organizations in Childbirth Education, Homeopathy, local township politics on land development and open government issues, and most recently,with the Weston A. Price Foundation as a Chapter Leader.  From her desire to see small family farms thriving in every community, she networks for cow-share dairies, CSAs and access to other local food.  Since 2000 she has been developing teaching materials and presenting traditional food classes and hands-on workshops.  She published the widely used Consumers’ Guide to Fresh, Unprocessed Milk - Safe Handling.  

Ted & Peggy have four children and five grandchildren.

Ted Beals, BS, MS, MD (Univ. of Michigan). 

Ted Beals is a Pathologist, Health educator and administrator.  He is the Retired National Director of Pathology  & Laboratory Services, Dept. of Veterans Affairs. 

He is also a researcher and faculty member of the University of  Michigan.  A lifelong advocate for organic principles and nutrient dense foods, Ted has recently written on bovine TB and milk. 

Ted is active in promoting the rights of farmers to provide and consumers to obtain milk and other local farm products. He lives with his wife Peggy on 40 acres in rural Michigan.

Judith McGeary, Esq.

Judith McGeary is an attorney, a farmer, and the Executive Director of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance. The Alliance is a non-profit organization founded to protect the rights of independent farmers, ranchers, and homesteaders, and to help ensure the success of independent agriculture.

Ms. McGeary has a B.S. in Biology from Stanford University, a J.D. with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin, and is working on a Masters degree in natural resource management, based on work with compost tea. In her legal career, she has practiced administrative law, litigation, and appeals. She and her husband run a small farm with heritage poultry, sheep, cows, and horses.

Taaron Meikle

Taaron Hohman Meikle is from the fifth generation of a Colorado Ranching and Farming family, whose love for the land and its ample bounty are a heritage. A long time student of nutrition, Taaron follows the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price. As a homeschooling advocate, Taaron has been educating her four sons for over twelve years. She hopes that the FTCF will positively impact the food practices of the nation in her children’s future.

Jim Roberts

Gary Cox, Esq. (General Cousel)

Gary Cox practices environmental and agricultural law and is Of Counsel to the Columbus, Ohio law firm of Lane, Alton and Horst LLC. Gary formerly served in the Environmental Enforcement Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s office for 14 years and prosecuted such Fortune 500 firms as General Motors, BP Chemical, Philips Electronics, Sun Oil Company and AK Steel for violations of state and federal environmental laws. Since entering private practice, Gary’s clients have included organic farmers, raw milk producers, and other clients manufacturing organic products.  Gary has been involved in raw milk issues in New York, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio and numerous other states throughout the country, and has brought a national class action lawsuit against the nation's largest alleged organic dairy producer. Gary is currently General Counsel to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund and the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation and in that capacity represents farmers throught the United States and is lead counsel in the only lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Gary lives in Columbus, Ohio with his teenage son and daughter, is an avid gardener, a former organic vegetable farmer, a supporter of local farmers, and consumes raw milk daily.