People Who Buzz

Stonyfield Amy

Amy VanHaren is the Social Media Manager at Stonyfield Farm and an individual on a mission to live a healthy, organic lifestyle. Navigating the world of organics and health is not always easy, and Amy uses her curiosity and background in writing and public relations to share stories, insights, news, and learnings. Taking the best from experts, personal experience, farmers, and everyday people – both inside and out of Stonyfield – Amy relays the buzz worth contemplating.
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Gary Hirshberg

Gary Hirshberg is Chairman, President, and CE-Yo of Stonyfield. New Hampshire born and bred, he is also the husband of freelance writer Meg Hirshberg and the father of three yogurt eaters. Gary has led Stonyfield’s phenomenal growth, from its infancy as a seven-cow organic farming school to its current position as the world’s largest organic yogurt maker.

The author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, Gary is a world traveler and frequent speaker on topics including sustainability, climate change, the profitability of green and socially responsible business, organic agriculture, and sustainable economic development.

Nancy Hirshberg

Nancy Hirshberg is Stonyfield’s VP of Natural Resources. She has worked at the nexus of food, business and the environment for nearly two decades, emerging as one of the field’s thought leaders. Since 1991, she has been at the helm of Stonyfield’s efforts to improve its environmental performance and reduce its ecological footprint. Nancy has also spearheaded Stonyfield Farm’s organic program for more than a decade.

Nancy has served on numerous boards including The American Farmland Trust and Vice President of the Organic Trade Association. She has also served as a consultant on environmental and organic issues for such entities as Seventh Generation, Hewlett Packard, and myorganic.com.

Before joining Stonyfield Farm, Nancy studied Plant and Soil Science and environmental education, and worked in education, forestry and agriculture. Nancy is the mother of a yogurt loving daughter who serves to continuously remind her of the importance of her work on behalf of the planet, and above all to keep a good sense of humor.

Stonyfield Jesse

As the Social Media Specialist at Stonyfield, it’s Jesse Baines’ job to stay on top of new trends. But as a food lover, tradition is where it’s at for this Stonyfielder — time spent learning about, writing about, procuring, and creating healthy, organic foods is time well spent, and you’ll almost always find a touch of her family roots in there somewhere. Jesse has a hard time following any recipe, even family ones, without a little “tweaking” to make it her own, and so has chosen to heartily follow two points of Julia Child’s ever brilliant words of wisdom:

1- Once you have mastered a technique, you barely ever have to use a recipe again.
2- Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.

Stonyfield Chandra

As Communications Project Manager, Chandra Carson is the woman behind social media and public relations for YoBaby, YoToddler and YoKids. As a new(ish) mom herself, she’s passionate about sharing with other parents the newest and most relevant information about making healthy choices for their little ones. That includes working closely with the Yo-Getters, a group of nearly 40 blogger moms who are passionate about organic food and the Stonyfield brand. And just like this group of dynamic women, Chandra advocates the same message: We’re all invested in feeding our families in a healthy way, one spoonful at a time.

Dr. William Sears

Dr. William Sears, affectionately known as “America’s Pediatrician” (or Dr. Bill to his “little patients”), is the author of more than 30 books, often as a co-author with his wife, Martha Sears, R.N. One of his books — The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age 2 — has become the favorite among editors of leading parenting magazines.

In addition to his role as a renowned medical and parenting consultant, Dr. Sears is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California and a father of eight children.

Melinda Hemmelgarn, M.S., R.D, L.D.

Melinda is a registered dietitian, “investigative” nutritionist, and award-winning journalist, with 30 years’ experience in clinical, academic and public health nutrition. Prior to her freelance writing and speaking career, Melinda developed and directed the Nutrition Communications Center at the University of Missouri, where she focused on strategic health messages.

Motivated by escalating childhood obesity rates, Melinda turned her attention to children’s “media diets” and blazed the trail blending media literacy with nutrition education. In 2004, she was awarded a W.K. Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellowship which allowed her to connect the dots between food, health and agriculture. Her work today focuses on using critical thinking skills to promote “food system literacy” and find “food truth.”

Her provocative, practical and personal “Food Sleuth” newspaper columns, magazine articles, conference keynotes, TV and radio programs help people “think beyond their plates.” Her work has appeared in national publications and she is the co-author of a children’s book on healthy eating. She also writes an online column for Organic Valley Family of Farms.

Melinda and her photographer husband received the MO Department of Agriculture’s Farmer’s Market Champion Award for their 2009 Farm Hands Calendar: A Tribute to the Hands that Feed Us. All proceeds supported their local farmers’ market. Together, they also produce Food Sleuth Radio on KOPN in Columbia, MO: www.kopn.org

Danielle Friedland

Danielle Friedland is the Social Media and Community Relations Manager at Healthy Child Healthy World where she works to increase awareness and expand the movement to create healthier environments by utilizing social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. She also manages the Healthy Child Parent Ambassadors that both help guide the organization and broadcast the message. Danielle is the creator of Celebrity Baby Blog, a blog devoted to celebrity pregnancies and celebrity babies, which was purchased by People.com in 2008. She has a B.A. from Hampshire College where she studied criminology.

Her other passions include her infant son, her 5-year-old daughter, her husband, and helping moms breastfeed (she’s a Certified Lactation Counselor). Follow her on Twitter at @that_danielle.

Jenna Bourne

Jenna Bourne is the Natural Resources Project Coordinator at Stonyfield Farm where she has been working on solid waste management, environmental communication and employee education since 2007.  Her work projects are quite varied and have ranged from developing content for the website to performing annual ‘dumpster dives’ to coordinating a major landscaping project.  Before joining Stonyfield, Jenna worked as an urban forester, served in Bolivia for the U.S. Peace Corps, and studied infrared technology.  Jenna has a B.S. from James Madison University and a M.E.M. from Yale University. Jenna takes advantage of New Hampshire’s great outdoors all year round as a lover of skiing, hiking, trailblazing with her Siberian husky, and competing in triathlons.
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Wood Turner

Wood Turner is the executive director of Climate Counts, a non-profit that scores companies annually on their commitment to addressing climate change in meaningful, measurable ways. Wood has appeared in many of the world’s leading media outlets, among them the New York Times, NPR, The Economist, BBC, and the Harvard Business Review. Wood built a voluntary benchmarking program called Industry Innovators, attracting companies representing over $27.2B in revenues so far.

Wood holds degrees from Duke University and the University of Washington. Wood has long helped companies realize value from their investments in sustainability and climate protection and has led a range of public and private brand-building and social marketing efforts. He participated in the transportation/land use working group of the New Hampshire governor’s Climate Change Task Force and advises several high-profile projects, including Newsweek Magazine’s corporate green rankings.

Wood has long helped companies realize value from their investments in sustainability and climate protection and has led a range of public and private brand-building and social marketing efforts. As senior sustainability strategist with a Seattle advertising and strategic communications agency, he consulted the Seattle Mayor’s Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection, an extension of the city’s leadership on the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

The father of three, he participated in both the 2008 and 2009 Climate Rides (on bicycle) from New York City to Washington DC to raise awareness for the need for meaningful federal legislation on climate change and renewable energy.
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Kate Geagan, MS, RD

An award winning registered dietitian, Kate is a nationally known nutrition and health expert when it comes to smart eating for busy people. Kate is the author of Go Green Get Lean: Trim Your Waistline with the Ultimate Low-Carbon Footprint Diet (Rodale, 2009).  She is also the Nutrition Contributor for Pregnancy Magazine, where she dishes on the latest health and nutrition info for moms-to-be in her monthly column “Let’s Eat!”.

As America’s Green Nutritionist™ Kate has been on the leading edge of helping America recognize the connections between our diet and its impact on our climate crisis. She’s passionate about helping consumers and companies alike understand a host of green issues, why they matter, and how they can maximize health and flavor while minimizing their carbon footprint.
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Valerie Deenen

Valerie is a frugal mom of two and the author of Inner Child Fun (www.innerchildfun.com) where she writes daily about her obsession with inexpensive craft and activity ideas the entire family can enjoy. Thousands of readers from around the globe have subscribed to her blog, which has been featured on NBC’s The 10! Show, 69 News at Sunrise, Newswatch 16′s Power to Save, and many other websites and print publications. In her past life, she was a senior designer and software engineer for a small technology company. Now a stay-at-home mom, Valerie’s creative spirit is fueled by her play time with her two young daughters. Her motto? Don’t just have a great day — create one!

Valerie was also one of the winners of the first-ever Stonyfield Blogger Barnstorming Tour. Read all about her organic adventures here: Barnstorming Blogs
Read Valerie’s Posts »

Amy Makowiecki

Amy is the Community Outreach & Social Media Coordinator at Reverb, the environmental organization that’s been working to green music tours since 2004. Based in Portland, Maine, Reverb is a non-profit organization founded by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her musician husband, Adam Gardner of Guster. Reverb provides turn-key greening programs for tours while conducting grassroots outreach and education with music fans everywhere, and has worked with artists like Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, Phish, Sheryl Crow, Coldplay, and many more in their quest to green the music industry.
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Dr. Peter Sears

Dr. Peter Sears is a member of America’s first family of pediatricians. Dr. Peter has practiced Family Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee since 2008. He sees all ages in his practice, from infants to geriatric patients. Dr. Sears’ primary passion in medicine is to promote well-being and health through the practice of preventive medicine at all ages along with using traditional and complementary treatments for curing of disease. Dr. Peter is the co-author of two books. “Dr. Sears’ LEAN Kids” along with Drs. William Sears and Sean Foy which promotes the LEAN program (Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitude and Nutrition) to help kids and adolescents lead happier, healthier lives. He is also co-author of “The Portable Pediatrician” along with Dr. William, Dr. Bob, Dr. Jim and Martha Sears, which is a comprehensive work on potential childhood illnesses, treatments and prevention to be published in 2010.
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Bonnie Taub-Dix

Bonnie Taub-Dix is a blogger for USAToday.com, a regular contributor to MCNBC.com, and the author of the just–released Read It Before You Eat It. She is currently Director and Owner of BTD Nutrition Consultants, and a specialist in behavior and lifestyle modification, nutritional psychotherapy, obesity and weight management. Bonnie was also a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

On her USAToday.com blog – Better than Dieting – Bonnie translates confusing science into good sense, and adds ingredients like humor, delicious recipes, and real-life situations to please the mind and palate. Get to know Bonnie at www.bonnietaubdix.com.
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Christine Koh

Christine Koh completed her Ph.D. and postdoctoral fellowship in music and brain science before hanging up her academic spurs to become a  writer, editor, designer, and creative consultant. She is the founder and editor of Boston Mamas, the designer behind Posh Peacock, writes a personal blog at Pop Discourse, pens the column Minimalist Mama, and hosts the talk video show Life.Style with Christine Koh. She resides in the Boston area with her husband and 6-year-old daughter and is expecting a second daughter in March 2011. She tweets about it all at @bostonmamas.

Mary Kennedy, MS

Mary Kennedy is a nutrition and wellness professional whose work has focused on understanding and improving the health behaviors of people of all ages, from school-age kids to older adults. Mary received her MS in Nutrition Communication and Food Policy from Tufts University and her BS in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Boston University. Additionally, she is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Health Fitness Specialist.

At Stonyfield Farm, Mary currently works on a variety of projects related to improving nutrition in schools and healthcare settings with a goal of providing education about and access to healthful, sustainably produced food. Additionally, Mary serves as a research associate at the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, a coach for recreational marathon runners, and a freelance health writer. Her work has appeared in publications such as Good Housekeeping, O magazine and the American Institute of Cancer Research’s Monthly Newsletter.

Olivia Lord

As a USAT Certified Triathlon Coach, Mom and athlete Olivia Lord’s life revolves around good health. Olivia coaches and competes in triathlons all over the country, from local sprint races to Iron distance endurance races. She owns and runs Balance Multisport, a coaching company derived from the belief that with the right balance – anything is possible!

From the choices she makes as a parent to the philosophy she embodies as a coach Olivia believes whole heartedly in living an organic life. She has learned firsthand the physical toll of training for endurance events like Ironman and believes that in order to get the best out of your body you have to put the best in. Olivia lives the theory that eating organic isn’t just good nutrition – it’s good training! She will be putting her body to the test again in November 2011 at Ironman Arizona.

A native Kiwi, Olivia left New Zealand in 1999 to coach skiing in the Rocky Mountains. There she met husband Matt who introduced her to the state of Maine where they now reside with their two ‘triathletes in training’ Henry, 8 and Poppy, 5. As well as an old yellow dog named Molly and 6 happy chickens.

Jonathan Gates

Follow Organic Valley farmer Jonathan Gates as he reports weekly from his Vermont family farm. Howmars Farm is a certified organic dairy farm, one of many Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative farmer members who supply the milk that goes into making Stonyfield’s yogurts and smoothies. The entire family pitches in on this third-generation farm. Check out some of the happenings on his farm on his Bovine Bugle Blog.
Read Jonathan’s Posts »

Laura Stanton

Laura Stanton is Stonyfield Farm’s Product Orientation manager. She has been with Stonyfield for 19 years and lives, loves, cooks and connects in New Hampshire.