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Jim Knopik grew up on a farm and has been a farmer himself since he graduated from high school. For years, he had implemented practices on his farm without questioning their impact on the environment or human health. Once he realized that his farm could have such influence, he changed his farming procedures and began to implement practices which reflected his concern for the environment and human health. Today, Jim does not feed his animals any hormones and only gives antibiotics to animals when they are sick. He tries to be environmentally conscious in all of his practices, including reducing his dependence on pesticides for growing crops. Jim is very involved in the farming community. In addition to being a member of the Farmers Union, he is currently the president of Mid-Nebraska Pride. Mid-Nebraska Pride, which stands for People Responding in Defense of Our Environment, was formed by a group of Nance County neighbors. They were also joined by farmers and ranchers from nearby Howard and Greeley Counties. The organization keeps track of state and federal legislation that will impact them. They are also leaders in the fight on behalf of family farmers. Also, Jim is a director on the board of the Center for Rural Affairs and helped found North Star Neighbors. North Star Neighbors is a producers coop, started by seven families that sells direct market meat. They guarantee that their meat (including beef, chicken, turkey, lamb and pork) is naturally raised, with out antibiotics or hormones. As Sierra Club Activist Laura Krebsbach puts it, "Their turkeys are the best fresh grass fed turkeys you can buy!"
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About six years ago, a large hog confinement operation wanted to move into Jim Knopik's town in Nebraska. As a small farmer, Jim knew that the factory farm was bad news for himself, his neighbors and the environment, what he did not realize was that fighting the large producer would vastly alter his own farming practices. Jim recognized that he was doing some of the same things he disliked about the factory farm. This caused him to reevaluate how he ran his own farm.