CO-CHAIR

The City of Victoria Food Systems Coordinator provides leadership to support the delivery of a variety of food security or food systems community initiatives that help to develop a more sustainable food system for the City of Victoria. This includes working collaboratively with community stakeholders, associations and non-profit organizations to assess needs, provide guidance and support in areas such as coordination and partnership development.

CO-CHAIR

Community Animator with Farm to School BC in the Capital and Nanaimo Regions. Passionate about urban and small-scale agriculture, and the positive impacts that outdoor education has on students.

Linda has been actively working on regional food system issues since the early 1990s and has been instrumental in building and shaping CRFAIR into the organization it is today. She has worked extensively with a wide range of individuals and groups and believes in collaboration as a meaningful path to getting results. In addition to her work with CRFAIR, Linda is a member of the Peninsula and Area Agricultural Commission and co-chair of the BC Food Systems Network. In 2015 she was recognized by Food Secure Canada with the Cathleen Kneen Award for vision, leadership, and a commitment to grassroots activism in building a more just and ecological food system. She was also the Community Research Fellow with the University of Victoria's Institute for Studies and Innovation in Community University Engagement. Linda is an avid food grower and fisher. 

Janelle Hatch has been working as a dietitian in the community for more than ten years, bringing attention and focus to the area of food security, food systems, and healthy eating. She has worked as a dietician in public health, and now works specifically with the Healthy Schools program for Island Health. She brings passion for food literacy and healthy eating and this enthusiasm is reflected in her home and volunteer work also. She is a busy mother of two children and as a family they work together to grow a vegetable garden and fruit growing trees to maximize their urban garden area and the pleasure derived from eating whole, fresh food.

Joan’s life-long passion for growing and eating healthy food aligns perfectly with her role as the
Executive Director of LifeCycles Project Society. She came to LifeCycles after over a decade as Executive Director of York Region Food Network in Ontario where she led a committed team in advocating for income responses to food insecurity and developing healthy food projects as a catalyst for building strong and vibrant communities. Joan has a background in business, with degrees from the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto. Joan is delighted to be back in her home province and to be working with the dedicated team at LifeCycles, connecting people to the food they eat and the land it comes from.

Executive Director of the Horner Foundation, working collaboratively with youth serving organizations and Indigenous communities in South Vancouver Island to support food literacy and food sovereignty initiatives. We look to support community-led solutions to food insecurity, and provide innovative opportunities for youth to be on the land and experience culture and community in meaningful ways.

Susan Tychie is the founder of Share Organics (1997 to 2015) a community produce box program that aggregated food from Vancouver Island farms for delivery in Victoria, BC. In order to meet the increasing demand for local produce strong relationships with local farmers were establish and grow to order contracts with individual farms provided the basis for local purchasing. Crop planning was also an integral part of the system designed and operated by Ms Tychie. This system provided a stable market for growers to increase their production to meet the emerging demand. In 2004 with technical partner Pam Sallaway an online management interface was developed for Share Organics with a view to offering the service to produce box program in other regions. As a partner and Vice President of Sales and Customer Service (2004-2017) for Home Delivery Management Inc., the company expanded to serve home delivery providers in Canada, the USA and Australia. More recently Ms Tychie was the main researcher on CRFAIR’s Institutional Purchasing Project. This project looked at purchasing requirements of Assisted Living health care residences in Victoria and the opportunities and challenges farmers face in serving this market. Currently involved as a consultant on the Closing the Supply Gap Project.

Jim is the executive director of the TBuck Suzuki Foundation, a fisheries foundation created in 1981 to protect habitat, prevent pollution and promote sustainable fisheries. Social justice and equality are a big part of the Buck Suzuki legacy. Jim is very passionate about connecting local seafood to our local food systems. He is Pacific Vice-President of the Canadian Independent Fish Harvester’s Federation, the largest independent harvester and fisheries organization in Canada. It was built to protect independent fishermen and coastal community commercial fishing interests. He is the co-ordinator for the BC Commercial Fishing Caucus, a leadership group from the BC fishing industry focused on bringing commercial fishing interests into integrated marine planning. The Caucus includes the Fishermen’s Union, the Native Brotherhood of BC, Area A Crab Association, BC Longline Fishermen’s Association, and 9 other fishing organizations. Jim’s academic background is in math, physics and philosophy: commercial fishing paid his way through university. Over the decades he has participated in various fisheries research initiatives include: the Ecosystem Based Management Roadmap; Ocean Modeling Forum on Pacific Herring; Fisheries value to Community - beyond the economics; and a Comprehensive Fisheries Evaluation Framework.

Jeff’s background spawns from the diversity of regional planning, sustainability principles before diving into wildlife management then shifting into regional food and agriculture planning. By his own admission, he knows very little about a lot of things. On matters of food agriculture, Jeff is committed to life long learning. He eagerly shares what little he knows, and looks to others to learn and receive knowledge. Jeff is a planner and project manager and helped to complete the recently approved Southern Gulf Islands Food and Agriculture Strategy and Capital Regional District Food and Agriculture Strategy in the CRD.

Diana is a researcher, communications expert, activist, and social entrepreneur. She has worked nationally and internationally. leading research and community development initiatives aimed at changing the policy context and providing critical evidence on the ground to make a more just and sustainable society. She has also co-founded several successful mission-driven enterprises.
She is a Research Advisor to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and a Distinguished Research Fellow of the University of Alberta's Parkland Institute.