2015 Farmer-Consumer Dialogue Speaker Biographies
Thomas Titus: Thomas is a sixth generation pig farmer in Logan County, Illinois. He and his father in
law manage Tri Pork, Inc.’s pork production. Their farm grows corn and soybeans and 12,000 pigs
annually. He also has 75 sows devoted to raising show/fair pigs for sale and exhibition. Thomas grew up
on a grain and pig farm in Douglas County, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois where
he studied Education and Animal Sciences. He then spent six years working in the agricultural industry
before returning to his wife’s family farm in 2012.He is active with the National Pork Board, National
Pork Producers Council, Illinois Pork Producers Association, local civic organizations and FFA. He is a
graduate of the National Pork Producers Council’s Pork Leadership Institute. He and his wife, Breann,
have two young girls, Reagan and Lakin.
City Moms:
Dina Barron: Dina graduated from Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield, IL. She was raised in
a big Italian family where all of the men were in the construction trade and gathered from time to time
to make their own wine and sausage. The men and women alike cooked and gardened. Food and its
proper preparation were a constant topic of conversation. She was a Jonathan Baldwin Turner Scholar
at the College of Agriculture at the University of Illinois. She initially majored in agricultural
economics, but also wanted to study abroad so switched her major to economics in the College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences. She spent a semester in Freiburg, Germany, and studied the European
Economic Union. Upon her return to the U.S., she started working at the Central Intelligence Agency as
an economic analyst on Asian issues. After four years there writing short articles, longer papers, and
briefing policymakers, she returned to the U of I for law school. Ten days after the bar exam she
married Michael Barron, who is now a railroad attorney in Chicago. Michael and Dina currently live in
Oak Park and have six kids ranging in age from 19 to 7.
Heather Guido: Heather is the mother of two boys, ages 7 and 4. She and her husband were raised in
upstate New York; and met in college. They moved to Chicago to start their careers. Raised on a small
Concord grape farm in the Lake Erie Grape Belt, when she moved to Chicago she realized that Midwest
agriculture was a lot bigger than the agriculture she knew growing up. She hadn't heard of soybeans or
seen a soybean plant until moving to the Midwest. When she read about Illinois Farm Families, a
program where Chicago moms tour Midwest farms, she immediately thought that would be a great
opportunity for her to learn more. The program surpassed her expectations and gave her a new
awareness. Her eyes are now wide-open to agricultural issues not just in Illinois, but across the US and
all around the globe.
Natasha Taylor-Nicholes: Natasha is the mother of four children. She currently resides in Chicago,
where she was born and raised. She is married to her high school sweetheart and is a stay at home
mom. While most seem to think that she effortlessly mothers and spouses on a day-to-day basis, she
keeps it together from prayer and the desire to give her children the life that children should have. She
created her blog, Houseful OF Nicholes, while pregnant with her twins. Given the charge of
transforming their house from one of four to that of six, she began researching everything to try and
make her home life easier and her footprint on this earth a little bit better. Blogging has led her into
the wonderful world of sewing, canning, reading, and creating.