Speakers & Affinity Group Leaders

Speakers – Conférencier.ère.s

Paul Taylor

Keynote Speaker | Building Equitable & Just Food Systems: Challenging Oppressive Systems

Conférencier principal | Construire des systèmes alimentaires équitables et justes : défier les systèmes oppressifs

Paul Taylor is an anti-poverty activist, teacher at Simon Fraser University and has led four nonprofit organizations, including FoodShare Toronto, where he was the Executive Director from 2017-2023. He ran to be Member of Parliament in the federal riding of Parkdale-High Park in 2019 and again in 2021, when he lost by a mere 1,700 votes.

He has written several op-eds on leadership, the non-profit sector and various social issues. In 2020, Paul was named one of Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential Torontonians, was awarded the Top 40 under 40 in Canada, and voted Best Activist by the readers of Now Magazine. He is the co-founder and co-managing director of Evenings & Weekends Consulting.

Paul’s experience includes Executive Director roles at Second Base Youth Shelter, Gordon Neighbourhood House and the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House. He has also chaired the British Columbia Poverty Reduction Coalition, served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Metro Vancouver Alliance and as Vice-Chair of Food Secure Canada.

When not at work, Paul is almost always found in the kitchen, on his bike, in a good book or at a local protest.

Paul Taylor est un activiste anti-pauvreté, enseignant à l’Université Simon Fraser et a dirigé quatre organisations à but non lucratif, dont FoodShare Toronto, dont il a été le directeur exécutif de 2017 à 2023. Il s’est présenté comme député dans la circonscription fédérale de Parkdale-High Park en 2019 et à nouveau en 2021, où il a perdu par seulement 1 700 voix.

Il a écrit plusieurs articles d’opinion sur le leadership, le secteur à but non lucratif et diverses questions sociales. En 2020, Paul a été nommé l’un des 50 Torontois les plus influents par Toronto Life, a reçu le prix Top 40 under 40 in Canada et a été élu meilleur activiste par les lecteurs de Now Magazine. Il est cofondateur et co-directeur général de Evenings & Weekends Consulting.

L’expérience de Paul comprend des rôles de directeur exécutif au Second Base Youth Shelter, à la Gordon Neighbourhood House et à la Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House. Il a également présidé la British Columbia Poverty Reduction Coalition, siégé au conseil d’administration du Centre canadien de politiques alternatives, de la Metro Vancouver Alliance et a été vice-président de Food Secure Canada.

Lorsqu’il n’est pas au travail, Paul est presque toujours dans la cuisine, sur son vélo, plongée dans un bon livre ou à une manifestation locale.

Margaret Augustine

Speakers | Researching Mi’kmaq Foodways

Margaret was born in Malta and first made a connection with Atlantic Canada when she started her Master’s degree in Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island. Margaret has been a community member in Elsipogtog First Nation for many years. There, she has taught in the Aotiitj programme, which is destined for youth interested in pursuing higher education at St. Thomas University, and she has spent much time among the Elders in the community learning from their wisdom.

Dr. Phoebe Stephens

Speaker | Exploring the role of Alternative Food Networks in a Corporate-Dominated Landscape

Conférencière – Explorer le rôle des réseaux alimentaires alternatifs dans un milieu dominé par les entreprises

Phoebe Stephens is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Business and Social Sciences at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Agriculture. Her research focuses on strategies to support sustainable food transitions.

Recent research projects include comparing food price changes in local versus mainstream food systems to shed light on the potential benefits of supporting more decentralized markets. Phoebe’s research has been published in academic journals including Agriculture and Human Values, Food Security and Canadian Food Studies. For more information on her research, you can visit www.phoebegwenstephens.com

Phoebe Stephens est professeure adjointe au département des affaires et des sciences sociales de la faculté d’agriculture de l’université Dalhousie. Ses recherches portent sur les stratégies de soutien aux transitions alimentaires durables.

Ses récents projets de recherche comprennent la comparaison des changements de prix des aliments dans les systèmes alimentaires locaux par rapport aux systèmes alimentaires conventionnels, afin de mettre en lumière les avantages potentiels d’un soutien à des marchés plus décentralisés. Les recherches de Phoebe ont été publiées dans des revues universitaires telles que Agriculture and Human Values, Food Security et Canadian Food Studies. Pour plus d’informations sur ses recherches, vous pouvez consulter le site www.phoebegwenstephens.com.

Phil Ferraro

Speaker | Legacy Garden

Phil’s mentors included social theorist Murray Bookchin and environmental scientist Dr. John Todd.

Phil’s master’s degree in Social Ecology included a thesis on creating food and energy self-reliance in northern climates with studies in renewable energy, organic agriculture, community development, and social responsibility. He is also an early pioneer of permaculture design; having received his accreditation in 1995.

In the early 90’s Phil introduced a series of environmental education courses at the University of Prince Edward Island which led to his co-founding The Institute for Bioregional Studies Ltd. (IBS) in 1995. From 1999 – 2016, IBS has managed a series of far-reaching programs on behalf of the PEI ADAPT Council, Agriculture Canada and Bioenterprise Inc., helping agriculture and agri-food producers respond to emerging issues and develop new ways of doing business.

In 2014, IBS, in partnership with the PEI Farm Centre Association, created The Legacy Garden which has grown to become one of the largest urban farms in Canada. Today, the Garden operates as a social enterprise helping alleviate food insecurity by donating thousands of pounds of food to various charities while also operating a Therapeutic Horticulture program. The Garden and Therapeutic Horticulture program are in the process of expanding on a second site, in Eastern PEI, on land managed by IBS.

Affinity Groups

In the spirit of collaboration and building solidarity among food systems stakeholders in our region, we have designed the Affinity Groups as the central programming of Dig In 2.0, giving attendees the time and space to listen, learn from, and collaborate with one another. Affinity Groups will take place in three sessions (session #1, a 90 minute generative discussion followed by two 30 minute sessions – #2 and #3) on Saturday afternoon where 12 organizations (and their representative – listed below in Affinity Group Hosts) will lead small group discussions that explore the structure/process of their respective organization types (e.g. food hubs), and challenges they’re experiencing, to receive collaborative group support that may lead towards a solution to an issue being experienced. Affinity Groups will represent a wide range of food systems stakeholders ranging from farmers and farm workers to food hubs, institutional procurement, and more.

Attendees will get introduced to a variety of organizations representing different ‘nodes’ of food systems, choose three of them to attend discussions on to learn from, help resource, support, and find solutions together to issue(s) being experienced by the Affinity Group host/organization.

Prior to the Affinity Group sessions, Dig In attendees will ‘Speed Date’ the 12 Affinity Group organizations by circulating throughout the rooms, browsing the Affinity Group host posters and potential discussion topics to determine which three sessions they would like to sign up for to attend on Saturday afternoon.