Board of Directors

Jamie Ager is a fourth generation farmer whose family has been farming its Hickory Nut Gap farm since 1916. Today, Hickory Nut Gap is proud to be a leader in 100% grass finished beef, pasture-raised pork, and pasture-raised chickens. Beyond its own operation, Hickory Nut Gap pursues a broader mission of building community through agriculture by supporting local farmers and connecting customers to their food. The Hickory Nut Gap line of branded products now works with over 50 farmers across the Southeast. These farmers are spearheading the regenerative agriculture movement. By using pasture-based farming, they are rebuilding farmland, sequestering carbon as organic matter in their soils, and working to reverse climate change.

In 2009, Camas Davis traveled to Gascony in southwest France to study the art of butchery and charcuterie with a family of pig farmers and butchers. Upon her return, she founded the Portland Meat Collective, to change the way citizens of Portland, Oregon, understand their food, their community, and their local food economy. In 2014, Davis launched the Good Meat Project in order to spread Meat Collective-style education across the country. She is also the author of “Killing It,” a memoir about her adventures in the world of meat. Camas lives in Portland, Oregon.

Alex Miller is a seventh-generation farmer and the CEO of Lick Skillet Farm, a 100-year old family farm located in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee. Lick Skillet direct markets grass-finished beef and pastured pork, and its operation focuses on soil health, biodiversity, animal welfare, and carbon sequestration. Alex serves on the board of the Good Meat Project and is also board member for the Southern Sustainable Agriculture and Education (SSARE). In his day job, Alex is the William B. Stokely Chaired Professor of Business at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Charlotte Tolley is a founder of the Market Square Famers' Market in downtown Knoxville, TN. She also created Nourish Knoxville as a nonprofit to further the work of connecting local farmers and producers to the public. She co-owned Just Ripe, a small locally-focused grocery and cafe, for 5 years, was a founding volunteer of Slow Food Tennessee Valley, and served on the Knoxville Knox-County Food Policy Council. She is currently the Executive Director of Nourish Knoxville and serves on the board of the Tennessee Association of Farmers Markets.

Shannon Miller is co-owner of Lick Skillet Farm in New Market, TN. Her interest in sustainable agriculture focuses on soil health, bio-diversity and the integrity of our local eco-system, compassionate husbandry, and strategies to mitigate global climate change.