Farm to Globe: Transforming Our Food Systems presents:
Canada’s Role in Local and Global Food Systems
Tune in for the first episode of our summer webinar series! The past year has made it clear that our food systems need fixing. This introductory episode will examine Canada’s place in the global food system and the importance of our local food systems. Join us as we set the stage for a summer of webinars exploring innovative solutions that will change our food systems forever and for the better. Our panelists Ione Smith, Upland Agricultural Consulting, and Rickey Yada, Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC, will offer global and local perspectives on what we have learned from the pandemic and what we need to do moving forward.
About the Presenters
Ione Smith
Ione Smith is passionate about working to find solutions to challenging food system problems. She is a Professional Agrologist with a background in community engagement, agricultural planning, and land resource science. Ione brings over 16 years of extensive experience in developing recommendations and policies that will improve farm viability and food production through strategic stakeholder engagement processes. Ione has built a career on developing innovative agriculture and food security plans for local governments, agricultural climate change adaptation and mitigation research for government and non-government agencies, and business plans for individual farmers. She has worked with Indigenous communities, governments of all levels, and non-governmental organizations to craft actionable recommendations and implement key business strategies to improve and develop opportunities for agriculture and food security. Ione is a Qualified BC Farm Business Advisor as conferred by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP): a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. In addition to her consulting work, Ione currently serves as Vice Chair (South Coast) of the Provincial Agricultural Land Commission. Other previous positions include volunteering as a steering committee member of the BC Food Systems Network, an organization that works to create healthy, just, and sustainable food systems and serving as a board member of Community Futures Sunshine Coast, an organization committed to growing local businesses.
Rickey Yada
Professor Rickey Yada was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C. in 2014. Prior to UBC, Dr. Yada was at the University of Guelph where he held numerous leadership roles, including Assistant Vice President Research, Canada Research Chair in Food Protein Structure, Scientific Director of the Advanced Foods and Materials Network (Networks of Centres of Excellence), and Founding Member of the Food Institute. He is, currently, the North American Editor of Trends in Food Science and Technology as well as serving on the editorial board of several journals. His areas of research includes: the structure – function relationships of enzymes (aspartic proteases) and carbohydrate biochemistry as related to nutrition and food quality. / Dr. Yada serves in a leadership capacity to several research and industry organizations, some of which include Chair of the Board of Trustees, International Life Science Institute – North America; Board of Bioenterprise Inc.; Advisory Committee Member – Arrell Food Institute and Seeding Food Innovation Grant Program (George Weston Loblaws); Member of the Scientific Advisory Panel – Riddet Institute (New Zealand); and a Member of the Advisory Panel – AgResearch (New Zealand). He is also a Past President and Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology and the International Academy of the International Union of Food Science and Technology, and is also a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists. Dr. Yada has an honorary DSc from the University of Guelph and was the 2019 Harraways 1867 Visiting Professor, University of Otago, New Zealand.
Clare Cullen – Moderator
Clare Cullen took the helm as Operations Director at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems in March, 2015. She plays a key leadership role in the Centre’s daily operations, business development, and financial and human resources management. Clare holds a B.A. honours in Film and Communication from Queens University and an M.Ed in Art and Environment from Simon Fraser University. Prior to joining CSFS, Clare worked with UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum as the Administrative Manager. With a rich background in arts, environmental education, finance, entrepreneurship and non-profit organizations, Clare has a diversity of skills and a wealth of experience.
The Farm to Globe: Transforming Our Food Systems series is brought to you by the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS), the BC Food Web, the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS), and the Royal Bank of Canada. This webinar series focuses on what needs fixing in our food systems and the innovative solutions which could affect change for the better.
