Board of Directors
Lindy Bannister, Board Chair, Wedge Co-op, General Manager. Lindy Bannister has been General Manager of The Wedge Community Coop since 2005. Lindy has owned her own restaurant on Vancouver Island in Canada before moving to the grocery business. She worked over 20 years in the conventional grocery chains of Albertsons and HEB. She has served on the board of directors for the National Cooperative Grocery Association and is currently a director of the National Cooperative Business Association and Frontier Natural Foods Coop.
Chris Blanchard, Rock Springs Farm, Organic Farmer. Chris Blanchard owns and operates Rock Spring Farm, a twelve-acre organic market farm north of Decorah, Iowa, selling a wide variety of vegetables and herbs through a 200-member CSA, food stores, and a farmers market since 1999. He also coordinates the presentations for the MOSES Organic Farming Conference.
Roger Blobaum, Blobaum Consulting. Roger is an agricultural consultant providing professional services to organic and sustainable agriculture organizations and institutions. He is a member of the National Organic Action Plan Committee and an advisor to the Center for Food Safety and the National Organic Coalition. He also is the organic research coordinator for The Ceres Trust, a national foundation with organic agriculture as a priority.
Atina Diffley, Board Secretary, Organic FarmingWorks LLC, Organic Farmer and Consultant, Founder of Gardens of Eagan. Atina is an experienced organic vegetable farmer, educating consumers, farmers and policy makers about organic farming and related issues. She provides consulting services to organic vegetable farmers though her business, Organic FarmingWorks LLC. She presently serves as a board member to the Organic Seed Alliance, and as Vice President of MOSES, the Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Services and as Secretary/Treasurer of MISA, the Minnesota Institute of Sustainable Agriculture.
Gail Graham, Mississippi Market Co-op, General Manager. Gail has worked in the natural products industry for over 30 years. Since 1999 she has been general manager of Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op, a 2-store St. Paul, MN cooperative with over 10,000 member owners. She serves as a Director on the Board of United Natural Foods Inc, the largest natural products wholesaler in the United States, and on the West Seventh Fort Road Federation Board, a community involvement organization in Saint Paul.
Linda Halley, Board President, Gardens of Eagan, General Manager Linda Halley has been growing organic produce since 1989, owning or managing farms in Wisconsin, California and Minnesota. She also enjoys being an author and educator on wide ranging farm topics. Currently she manages the Gardens of Eagan Organic Farm for the Wedge Food Co-op of Minneapolis and serves as President of the board of Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service.
Meg Moynihan. Board Vice-President, MN. Department of Agriculture, Organic and Diversification Specialist Meg Moynihan works as the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Organic and Diversification Specialist and is a certified organic dairy farmer in Le Sueur County, Minnesota. Moynihan has directed a statewide sustainable agriculture program in Michigan, worked as an educator and evaluator, and served as a community development extension specialist with the U.S. Peace Corps in northern Thailand. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Organic Farming Research Foundation.
Brenda Pfahnl, Board Treasurer, Independent Consultant Brenda works as an independent consultant for the Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund, and previously worked for the Cooperative Fund of New England. Her work with these organizations has included putting together financing packages for food cooperatives, organic farms and other agriculture-based cooperatives. She has served on a number of boards, including the Concord Food Cooperative and Nesenkeag Organic Farm. She holds an MBA & M.S. in Community Economic Development.
Al Singer, Dakota County, Land Conservation Manager. Al Singer has been involved in conservation education, management and land acquisition for over 30 years. He has been an Interpretive Naturalist and Program Manager at the Dodge Nature Center in West Paul, Environmental Program Manager and Planner for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Metro Greenways Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and has been the Land Conservation Manager for Dakota County since 2003. He has been involved with a wide variety of landowners, agencies and organizations to permanently protect thousands of acres throughout the Twin City metropolitan region with a market value of well over $120 million.
