New Interns and Volunteers Strengthen our Team

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Author: Alena Cawthorne

Posted: May 25, 2016

Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario

Sustain Ontario membership badge 1Sustain Ontario is thrilled to have a group of bright, dedicated individuals working and learning alongside our staff this summer to support core projects and initiatives.  A team of interns will be working to create policy backgrounders on relevant food and farming topics, organizing resources, conducting research, and promoting food and farming news on our blog.   Three volunteers also are contributing to Sustain Ontario work this summer.

Meet our Student Interns!

Ghada Sasa is an MES candidate at York University interested in how we can shift to organic agriculture, in order to improve the health of our communities and ecosystems, and also to combat climate change.  Ghada currently is working as a Policy Research and Communications intern for Sustain Ontario, writing policy backgrounders, conducting policy research, and writing blog posts for the website.

Jessie Cowe is a student in the Master of Environmental Studies Program at York University.  Jessie’s interest is rooted in her experience of food as an interdisciplinary subject, one that can bring people together each day to generate and to share knowledge, practical skills, cultural narratives, stories, energy and so much more. A common thread throughout her work and volunteer experience has been engaging youth in both naturalist and food studies through non-formal, intergenerational, multi-sensory and participatory learning.  The capacity of such learning to raise ecological awareness and to strengthen food security has become a primary component of her research interests, which include environmental education, food studies and environmental ethics. As an intern with the Ontario Edible Education Network, Jessie is thrilled to be supporting efforts to strengthen advocacy toolkits for food champions working to advance food-based engagement in Ontario schools.

Katherine Howes  was born and raised on a small dairy farm in Frontenac County in Eastern Ontario. Growing up on the farm, Katherine was constantly spoiled with fresh produce, milk and meat from her farm and neighbouring farms. She contributes her upbringing to her passion for local food and farming. Katherine will be pursuing a Master’s degree in Rural Planning and Development in the fall at the University of Guelph where she will focus her research on the role that local food systems play in sustainable rural economic development and fostering rural resilience. As the Communications Intern with Sustain Ontario, Katherine hopes to learn about the issues facing our local food providers and to connect with all of our members to do her part in promoting local food in Ontario.

Mahisha Sritharan is a Research Intern at Sustain Ontario focusing on urban and residential agriculture. She is candidate for a Master in Environmental Studies at York University, and her research interests lie in food access and health. She is passionate about improving access to local healthy foods for communities.

Meet our Volunteers!

Three energetic volunteers are sharing their skills with Sustain Ontario this summer.  Emily McKenzie has a special interest in organizations working on agriculture and local food and is volunteering so that she can become more connected to food networks in Ontario.  Kassandra Fiore is growing her knowledge of local food while sharing her skills as a volunteer to support the food sector.  Mercy Injenyo brings her passion for agriculture as a volunteer working to contribute to food and farming sustainability.

We are thankful to these student interns as well as to our team of volunteers for sharing their passion and energy to help tell the story of food and farming in Ontario and build stronger and healthier food systems across the province.