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GOSA Board of Directors
Robyn Metcalfe: President/Founder, GOSA In 1996, Robyn imported Gloucester
Old Spots Pigs from the UK for her farm in Maine, Kelmscott Rare Breeds Farm. Kelmscott, a non-profit conservation farm initiated
this importation, the first in over 15 years, in order to re-estabish the herd in North America. During the ten years that
Kelmscott operated, the farm raised GOS pigs and established a market for GOS meat in New England. She has developed partnerships
between GOSA and the GOS pig society in the UK and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy in the U.S. Currently, and for
the past eight years, she has been without pigs, living in Boston, studying history for a PhD from Boston University. After
receiving her PhD last year, she taught courses in modern European History at BU. Next year, she will be studying at the University
of Texas while doing research on historic food markets around the world.
David Schmechel: Vice President GOSA 30 years farming experience
raising Beef cattle and pigs.
25 years Software Engineer at MIT
8 years experience with Old Spots
Currently
owns and manages a 160 acre farm, in Southern NH , with wife Kathryn and two daughters Hannah and Emma. Our children are
home schooled and assit us in raising grass fed Belted Galloway Cows, Gloucestershire Old Spots, Cotswold
sheep, Pasture raised broiler chickens, fresh eggs and honey
Kristina Johnson Bell: Scretary GOSA Hilltop Farm, Wheatland, WY - I live on the windiest, driest 80 acre hill
in southeastern Wyoming. My parents and I moved to our farm when I was 8 years old so I have lived here for 46 years.
My parents raised animals of various breeds - pigs, sheep, and milk stock. My husband, John, and I are continuing that
tradition with breeds that can be grazed and hay fed rather than grained. We raise Columbia/Rambouillet sheep, Milking
Shorthorns and of course GOS pigs. We fell in love with these personable grazers when we first read about them.
We are not experts with any of our animals, but raise them as self-sufficient farmers would have earlier in history.
We both work for the National Park Service, seasonally, at Fort Laramie National Historic Site. Through my adventures
with the National Park Service I gained insight with endangered wild species reintroduction. Seeing animals bred back
from the brink of extinction is very important to me - GOS especially. As with most of us, our barn is overfull with
creatures - chickens of various breeds that needed homes, setting hens and babies, geese, cats, three stock dogs and a flock
guarding burro. In February of this year, John and I adopted two little boys, ages 2 ½ and 4. Juanito and
Emiliano are loving the farm and all the creatures
Sally Doherty: Registrar/Treasurer
GOSA Sally lives with her family on a small farm in Afton MInnesota - Little Foot
Farm - just 15 miles outside of the Twin Cities. By day, she is a working professional in the electronics industry. At the
farm, she and her family run a commercial greenhouse business, and raise Berkshire and Gloucestershire Old Spot hogs, and
heritage breed chickens.
A local charcuterie and dry curing salami chef is working with Little Foot Farm on the
GOS hogs. She is enthusiastic about working with this rare
heritage breed, while making good local food
that serves the Twin Cities, and teaching her children about such important endeavors. Additionally,
she has made
connections at a Big 10 university to establish a relationship with professors in the Ag - swine department. She and her
family have been laying the foundation to do something useful with hersmall diversified farm, and GOS hogs in particular. |
