Lori Stahlbrand, Founder & President

Lori Stahlbrand became well-known to Canadians during the 1980s and ‘90s, when she hosted a variety of high-profile news and current affairs shows for CBC Radio. After hosting shows and posting regular stories and features from Charlottetown, Sydney, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Jasper, Vancouver and Inuvik, Lori got to know about many of Canada’s unique regions. More recently, she volunteered for four stints as a farmhand in Prince Edward Island and British Columbia so she could learn firsthand — from the ground up and sore back down — about the realities facing primary food producers.

Despite the demanding pace at LFP, Lori makes time to help other groups. She has been a leading member of the Laidlaw Foundation environment awards committee, FoodShare, the Minister of Agriculture’s Strategic Advisory Committee, and Toronto Food Policy Council, as well as Sustain Ontario. Her overall work on behalf of food and the environment was recognized by the Yves Rocher Foundation, which gave her its Woman of the Earth Award in 2008.

Don Mills, Vice-President & Director of Certification

Don Mills is a longtime family farmer and respected farm leader. Raised on a dairy farm, Don now raises pigs on the family homestead southwest of London. He also serves as vice-president of the National Farmers Union. Don’s commitment to the big picture of farm and food system sustainability goes back to his youth, when he earned his BA in environmental studies. He’s kept up that interest as a member of the Sierra Club Ontario executive and of the Minister of Agriculture’s Strategic Advisory Committee.

Sarah Archibald, Stagiaire en Certification/Quebec Certification Intern

Sarah is an undergraduate student at McGill University studying International Agriculture and Global Food Security. At McGill, Sarah has been working with the McGill Food Systems Project, a multi-stakeholder group that seeks to create an informed and sustainable food system at the university. After seeing the success of changing institutional purchasing to focus on Certified Local Sustainable procurment, Sarah is excited to be working with l’Université du Québec à Montréal, McGill, Equiterre et les exploitants agricoles du Québec

Alissa Campbell, Institutional Intern

Alissa is in her second year of graduate studies in Environmental Studies at York University where her major research focuses on creating innovative ways of linking Certified Local Sustainable farmers to institutional markets in Toronto. Her previous experiences include working with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as well as Canadian Organic Growers’ Ottawa Chapter. Whether it is getting her hands dirty in edible school gardens in Ottawa, learning from farmers at local markets, or sharing a bountiful meal with friends – food is at the centre of Alissa’s life and she shares LFP’s belief that it can be a powerful catalyst for positive change.

Paul Chorney, Manitoba Coordinator

Paul Chorney brings a passion for community development and local sustainable food systems to Local Food Plus. In 1979, he helped start Harvest Collective, Winnipeg’s first organic retailer which had a strong focus on providing citizens with sustainable food grown in Manitoba. Paul realized the important role that local sustainable food plays in community development early in his career, and has recently refocused his work on helping future generations maintain access to food that is good for the environment and their local economy while working at Food Matters Manitoba as a community liason for the past 5 years. Paul’s main focus at LFP is growing the number of Certified Local Sustainable producers in Manitoba, while simultaneously creating partnership with distributors, institutions and retailers.

Amber Cowie, British Columbia Coordinator

Amber Cowie possesses a broad range of experience in environmental and agricultural systems issues. Amber is a graduate of University of Victoria obtaining a degree in Environmental History and Professional Writing with further studies at Carleton University in Journalism. Amber’s work experience at Grasslands Conservation Council of BC and at Ontario Nature as a Program Manager allowed her to develop and to use skills in needs analysis, data collection, program development and achieving deliverables. Amber has also delivered food and farming related projects with the Alternative Land Use Systems (ALUS) Alliance. As our BC staff resource Amber provides LFP with exemplary interpersonal skills, proficiency in writing and demonstrated success in delivering on time and on target projects.

Heather Jewell, Fundraising Coordinator

Heather comes to LFP fresh from completing a certificate in Fundraising and Volunteer Management from Humber College and an internship at The Mississauga Food Bank. During high school, Heather spent 3 months living and working in a small town in Ecuador. This was a life changing experience and led her to see the incredible resources and opportunities available in Canada. Through working at a small grocery specializing in local food, she came to realize a passion for food security and local environmental issues.

Dr. Rod MacRae, Senior Policy Advisor

Dr. Rod MacRae, LFP’s senior policy analyst responsible for certification standards, is a professor of food studies at York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies and president of the Canadian Association of Food Studies. One of Canada’s most eminent and respected food policy analysts, he was founding manager of the Toronto Food Policy Council during the 1990s and co-authored Real Food for a Change with LFP president Lori Stahlbrand in 1998.

Sherry Nielsen, Certification Manager

Sherry Nielsen brings solid experience in the field of organic certification to her job, overseeing smooth and personalized handling of otherwise-anxiety-producing stages of inspecting, certifying and recertifying farmers and processors for sustainable practices. Food producers are more ground down by complicated paperwork and confusing red tape than most, so Sherry’s job is to ensure smooth and personalized treatment of all applicants – part of the human feel that LFP sees at the centre of sustainability.

Erin Shapero, Director of Institutional Relations

Erin Shapero first came into the public eye ten years ago when she won her seat as councilor in the Town of Markham, and became Ontario’s youngest city councilor. Erin held this position for ten years, establishing herself as one of Ontario’s leading municipal councilors in the field of environmental purchasing and waste management practices. Under her leadership, Markham became the first municipality to North America to adopt a local sustainable food purchasing policy. Erin also enjoys an international reputation as a result of her work in 2005 as co-author of World Mayors and Municipal Leaders Declaration on Climate Change. Erin manages the LFP file on institutional procurement.

Jessica Thornton, Director of Operations

Jessica Thornton is LFP’s Development Manager. Her undergraduate work on a research team looking into student food preferences helped encourage the University of Toronto to partner with LFP to become the leading public sector purchaser of local sustainable food in North America. After earning her BA, Jess took additional diploma courses on fundraising, volunteer management and food security. Before joining LFP staff, Jess volunteered at an LFP-certified farm, and worked at an LFP retail partner. Like most members of LFP’s staff, Jess gives freely of her time to a variety of positive organizations, and is the Vice-Chair of the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council, the first such body in the world, and is also a member of the highly-respected Toronto Food Policy Council.

Chris Trussell, Director of Partner Services

Chris Trussell manages partner services for LFP, working with leaders of the restaurant, catering, food specialty and retail sector to help them team up with local and sustainable producers. Chris is trusted as a food service professional who knows the industry from the inside, having co-founded and run the food and event company, the Daily Apple. Chris is also appreciated for his experience in event organizing, having managed major events for the likes of Proctor and Gamble, Labatt, Price Waterhouse Cooper and LCBO. In a pinch, the former professional in musical theatre can also sing for his supper.

Judy Yee, Office Manager

Judy Yee manages the LFP office, oversees preparation of funding proposals and budgets and manages all critical documentation. She did post-secondary studies in Montreal before moving to Toronto, where she’s worked for many years as confidential and executive secretary.

LFP Board Members

The Board of Directors of Local Food Plus guides the organization to ensure that terms and conditions of a charitable non-profit are observed and honoured. LFP board members also bring a breadth and depth of experience in public health, public administration, food provision, farm protection and food policy that add to LFP’s credibility and outreach opportunities.

Yusuf Alam is a health promotion consultant with the Environmental Protection Office at Toronto Public health. He has an MA from the United Nations University in Costa Rica, and has worked in the communications field for Earthday Canada.

Dr. David Clandfield is a former principal of New College at University of Toronto and a professor emeritus teaching and researching the place of food in French culture. A former Board of Education trustee in Toronto, David devoted much of his career and many publications to educational reform.

Kim De Lallo, chair of the LFP board, manages member relations and education for the Ontario Natural Food Co-op.

Robert Grand, treasurer and secretary of the LFP board, is the owner and founder of Grassroots Environmental Products, Canada’s largest green lifestyle retailer.

Karen Hutchinson, vice-chair of the LFP board, is a longtime president of the Caledon Countryside Alliance and co-chairs Sustain Ontario.

Elbert van Donkersgoed, longtime policy analyst with the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario and well-known broadcasters and commentator on farm policy, was the founding executive director of the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee. He consults to food and agriculture groups.