an alliance for healthy food and farming

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Sustain is an alliance of organizations and enterprises from diverse parts of the food and farming sectors (across Indigenous lands / Ontario) that have a common aim of working towards food systems transformation. Alliance members recognize that their organization’s voluntary participation in difficult collective conversations lends weight to their collective recommendations for policy and action. Members pledge to work collaboratively with diverse groups from across regions to help create productive, equitable and sustainable food and farming systems that support the health and wellbeing of all people.

History Highlights

Throughout 2022-2023 we launched and coordinated the Ontario Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, which has the goal of supporting school food investment and support at the federal, provincial and local levels. Thanks to the support of the Government of Ontario we created the Food Is Science site, which shares experiential, evidence-based resources to help educators understand and teach new food literacy learning in Ontario’s Science and Technology Curriculum. We also lead the Ontario Food Literacy Working Group to advocate to the Ministry of Education for recommendations and policy changes to support a comprehensive approach to integrating food literacy education into schools across Ontario.
In 2020-2021, we addressed some challenges brought on by the pandemic. As a few examples — we launched a Buy Local Food Across Ontario website to support regional buy-local initiatives; our Community Growing Network helped to successfully advocate for the safe re-opening of community gardens; our Buy Local Food Network, in collaboration with Farmers’ Markets Ontario, successfully advocated for the safe reopening of farmers’ markets; our Edible Education Network hosted webinars to bring folks together to discuss how school food programs were adapting to school closures and restrictions (the Network launched a monthly School Food newsletter, too). In 2021, Sustain also employed doctoral researcher Kirsti Tasala to support three different regions via the project Catalysing Network Change: Exploring Practical Tools to Spark Food Network Action — with funding support from Mitacs and Innoweave. Sustain also collaboratively developed and released a Policy Brief to support Bill 216 (Food Literacy for Students Act, 2020). And we continued to work with Farm to Cafeteria Canada on supporting farm to school efforts, which included participating in the release of a Farm to School Canada Evaluation Framework.
In 2019, Sustain Ontario brought an exciting new format to Bring Food Home, partnering with various groups to host multiple regional conferences that covered diverse topics, with two of the events led by Indigenous regional groups. Read more about the four events on the Bring Food Home website and check out our YouTube channel for videos.
In 2018 and 2019 the Sustain Ontario board has been working on strategic planning and a redistributed leadership model for the organization. We remain focused on supporting networking, capacity building and advocating for healthy food and farming in Ontario.
In 2018 and 2019 Sustain Ontario continued to partner with Farm to Cafeteria Canada to deliver and support an additional 11 Farm to School grants across Ontario as a partner in the Farm to School: Canada Digs In! initiative.
In 2017 Sustain Ontario put on a successful Bring Food Home Event. You can read the final report, “Good Food and Farming Ideas for Ontario”. This report summarizes the policy papers prepared by each of Sustain Ontario’s networks.
In December 2016 Sustain Ontario’s Networks identified initiatives they wanted to focus on. The networks cooperated with student researchers throughout 2017 to create policy position papers, in order to identify gaps, set direction and strengthen the Ontario food system.
In 2016 Sustain Ontario began a partnership with Farm to Cafeteria Canada to deliver and support 21 three-year Farm to School grants across Ontario as a part of the Farm to School Canada Grants program (which later became a part of the Farm to School: Canada Digs In! initiative).
In 2016 Sustain Ontario became a partner on George Brown College’s 4-year Generating Success for Farm to School Programs initiative to determine and share best practices for Farm to School programs.
In 2016, we hosted a networking event called Cultivating Our Capacity a day that brought together community leaders and municipal staff from across the province to engage in generating initiatives to help strengthen local food policy and systems. The event lead to the launch of two new networks the Sustainable Food Enterprise Network and the Food Justice Network.
In 2016 Sustain Ontario launched the Food Initiatives Greenhouse, an online resource sharing library.
In 2015 Sustain Ontario officially became an independent not-for-profit
In 2014 Sustain Ontario was a founding member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food (a network of Food Secure Canada). Since that time Sustain Ontario has continued to support the efforts of the Coalition to achieve a National, Universal School Food Program.
In 2013, Sustain Ontario launched the Ontario Edible Education Network, bringing together students, educators, community groups, parents, farmers, food businesses, and administrators to facilitate efforts to get Ontario’s children eating, cooking, growing, and learning about local, healthy sustainable food.
2012-13 Growing Good Food Ideas Videos launch at Queen’s Park in 2013 with the Premier of Ontario
Recommendations are developed for the Local Food Act in 2012
Development and advancement of the Ontario Food and Nutrition Strategy (OFNS) in 2012
In 2011, Sustain Ontario was a founding member of Farm to Cafeteria Canada. Sustain Ontario proceeded to participate on F2CC’s Advisory Committee and acted as the point person advancing farm to school in Ontario.
Sustain Ontario launches Vote ON Food campaign in 2011 that urges policymakers in Ontario to support local food legislation
Publication of Menu 2020: Ten Good Food Ideas for Ontario in 2010
2010 marks the first Bring Food Home Conference: Connecting Ontario Farm and Food Networks
In 2009 Sustain Ontario hires its first Director and expands its mandate from Southern Ontario to province-wide
Sustain Ontario is formally incorporated in 2008
In 2007 working meetings were convened by the Metcalf Foundation to explore the possibility of a cooperative, integrated network with the goal of transforming food and agriculture at a system-wide level

Annual Reports

Governance Documents

SO Governance

MEMBERS of Sustain Ontario come from diverse parts of the food and farming sectors and have a common aim of working towards food systems in Ontario as part of Sustain Ontario’s mission. Members drive the work of Sustain Ontario by sharing their ideas, perspectives, and energy to advance Sustain Ontario’s mission. Members also elect the Board of Directors.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS is a group of individuals from food and farming sectors across Ontario. It serves to provide for legal and financial governance, to set strategic direction and program priorities, and to guide and support the Executive Director and staff of the organization.

NETWORKS are self-organizing groups that coalesce around interest in common area of food and farming. The networks serve primarily as hubs for information sharing. Collaboration within any given network can result in formation of a Working Group for more focused action on a given topic.

WORKING GROUPS are self-organizing teams led by interested and engaged leaders. Working Groups are made up of Members, Supporters and other stakeholders who come together to collaborate around a particular topic relevant to Sustain Ontario’s mission. Sustain Ontario’s STAFF implement the strategic directions informed by the Membership and set by the Board of Directors.

Team

Carolyn Webb

Ontario Edible Education Network Coordinator

Carolyn has coordinated Sustain Ontario’s Edible Education Network, a community of practice that is working to connect children and youth with healthy food systems, since 2013. Since 2018 she has supported the coordination of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, a network of over 300 non-profit member organizations from every province and territory advocating for the creation of a universal cost-shared school food program for Canada. Carolyn also plays the role of Research and Knowledge Translation Lead for Farm to Cafeteria Canada, which supports students and school communities to make informed food choices while contributing to vibrant, sustainable, economically viable regional food systems that support the health of people, place and planet. In all of these roles she brings together individuals and groups to share resources, ideas, and experience; coordinates joint projects; and supports efforts across the province to enable children and youth to eat, grow, cook, celebrate, and learn about healthy, local and sustainably produced food.

Carolyn studied Environmental Science at the University of Guelph and received her Masters degree in Adult Education and Community Development from OISE, University of Toronto. She currently spends her free time keeping up with 2 boys and helping them develop a love for good food.

Josie Di Felice

Communications

Josie has been working with Sustain Ontario for several years now on various communications and school food initiatives. Since receiving an honours degree in media studies from the University of Guelph and a diploma in public relations from Humber College, she has been working with a number of environmental/food and farming non-profits across the GTA over the last decade, advocating for sustainable local food systems and food literacy education.

Sarah Keyes

Provincial Lead, Ontario Food Literacy; Ontario Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food

Sarah is passionate about working with others towards food systems change and brings years of policy and project management experience to her role. She began her career facilitating food literacy programs in BC and Ontario where she got to see the outcomes of experiential, community-connected programming first-hand. Building on what she learned, Sarah led Ontario policy advocacy and Sustain Ontario’s curriculum support project Food is Science that aims to build educators’ capacity to teach the curriculum through food. Sarah is now the Provincial Lead for the Ontario Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, where she advocates for public investment and policy improvements for strong, well-supported school food programs in Ontario, and supports work at the national level to advance school food in Canada.

Sarah has a Masters of Environmental Studies degree from Dalhousie where she focused on food system sustainability using Life Cycle Assessment. Outside of the office she loves dancing and gardening with her two little people, as well as spending time outdoors and on the east coast where she grew up.

Rosie Kerr

Policy Coordinator

Rosie is the Participatory Policy Coordinator for Sustain and a Research Associate in the Sustainable Food Systems Lab at Lakehead University. She is also a contract instructor at Carleton University currently teaching Global Issues. Her PhD in Education from Queen’s University focused on peer-to-peer learning in building food sovereignty and community self-sufficiency in rural communities in Southern Mexico.

Heather Thoma

Heather has championed community resilience and well-being in her work with non-profit organizations and grassroots groups related to food, farming, health, and the arts at the local and provincial level for over 25 years. She has extensive experience in project coordination, community education and outreach, facilitation and partnership building.

Heather is the Provincial Animator with the Ontario Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, assisting with member support and provincial advocacy to build strong school food programs, including a vision of increased local procurement and expanded relationships with Ontario food producers. She supports local farms through her work with Farms at Work based in Peterborough, and for several years was a Food Procurement Coordinator in support of Ontario student nutrition programs.

She and her partner operate LoonSong Farm, growing organic grains in Northumberland County.

Board

Phil Mount

Born and raised on a dairy farm in Ottawa, Phil pursued an interdisciplinary education that included law, sociology, silviculture, graphic design, farming, political economy, and web marketing. Since completing doctoral studies at the University of Guelph, focusing on sustainable regional food systems development, Phil served as Research Associate at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, Associate Editor at Canadian Food Studies, principal investigator of Shared Opportunities on Institutional Lands—exploring the intersections of food production, health and education—and Associate Director of Just Food, Ottawa.
Currently, with Denise, Phil is focused on the development of complementary enterprises: a mixed Katahdin flock at Flat Earth Farm (year 9); and a further processing / food service good food caravan, The Sheepdog Grill (year 4). In his spare time Phil serves as Vice President of Policy for the National Farmers Union.

Sunday Harrison

Sunday Harrison is founder and executive director at Green Thumbs Growing Kids, an educational school garden partner working in downtown east Toronto. She is a Steering Committee member of Sustain Ontario’s Edible Education Network. She has a passion for healthy soil, trees from seed, food forests and urban agriculture.

Rhonda Teitel-Payne

Rhonda Teitel-Payne came to the field of urban agriculture through a background in social work, specifically community development. As Co-Coordinator for Toronto Urban Growers since 2013, Rhonda balances policy work with developing on-the-ground urban agriculture projects in partnership with the City of Toronto and neighbourhood-based agencies. Prior to her role with TUG, Rhonda coordinated and managed urban agriculture and other community food programs for 14 years at The Stop Community Food Centre. She keeps her hands in the dirt in her own front and backyard urban jungles in East York.

Christina Mann

Growing up in rural Southern Germany, Christina developed a deep appreciation for locally produced, sustainably grown food. With a background in hospitality management, Christina has worked in Germany, Spain, and the UK. After immigrating to Canada, she became actively involved with the Guelph Wellington Local Food Programme, playing a key role in expanding the Taste Real brand—one of Ontario’s earliest regional local food and food tourism initiatives. In her current role as Manager of the Economic Development for the County of Wellington, Christina continues to support and promote local farm and food businesses with a goal of building a thriving regional food economy.

Moe Garahan

Moe has been working on food and farming issues since 1995. Focused on community development and community economic development approaches, she has facilitated the establishment of many ongoing community and regional food initiatives, (including Just Food) while supporting provincial and coast-to-coast-to-coast food systems change (presently includes Sustain Ontario, Food Communities Network and Common Ground Network). Since 2004, she has been the Executive Director of Just Food, working with teams to integrate food access and food localism within the mixed urban and rural settings of the Algonquin/Ottawa region.