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GORD ANDROSSOFF

Executive Director

Gord was raised on a small mixed farm in the aspen parkland region 80km north of Saskatoon, His formal training is in Biology and Agriculture with his real-life training in listening to all the voices, food insecurity, local food, school food programs and social justice. He most recently served as the Executive Director at CHEP Good Food, a Saskatoon food security agency, for nearly five years. He does land restoration consulting in the Flin Flon, MB region and serves as a Part-Time Director with the Saskatchewan Municipal Board (an appeals tribunal). This past summer he joined the Board of Directors of the Prairie Food System Vision Network.

Most of his career was spent as an Agronomist in the commercial ag sector, within agricultural cooperatives, and with a farmer-led funding foundation. He has always been a bit of a ‘square peg in a round hole’ and hopes that one day a reset of agriculture policies leads to strong rural communities feeding urban neighbours, local food production to support regional food security, and an abundance of small successful farmers to complement our export agricultural framework.

Gord has two adult children who have traveled to far more distant parts of the world than he has with his son having bought the 40-acre farmyard where he grew up. He has a 40-acre lakeside pasture near the farmyard where he hopes one day to live part of the year on a hillside tiny house bordered by a stone wall from all the rocks he and his siblings picked in childhood. He is motivated by coffee conversations with strangers, his late Russian Doukhobor grandmother, visiting out of the way places, the value of blending western and Indigenous knowledge and the many people who still strive to build community spaces where we can all thrive regardless of the privilege we may or may not have.

ed@nelsoncfc.ca

EMIL FISCHER

Garden Coordinator

Emil’s lifelong passion for growing things, along with his DIY approach, means he feels very much at home in the Nelson Community Food Centre Garden. His mastery of composting, gardening and working well with others comes from helping out in a double-lot family/urban garden from a young age.

emil@nelsoncfc.ca

AINSLEAH HASTINGS

Community Chef & Kitchen Coordinator

“I want the world to be united through healthy and happy food and to thrive together.” – Jeong Kwan

Ainsleah brings a diverse working background that blends culinary experience with a deep commitment to social justice. Her career has spanned a multitude of roles, many centered around creativity, food security, and fostering inclusive spaces. She believes that access to nutritious food is a fundamental human right and that both cooking and work should be enjoyable and inspiring. Ainsleah is dedicated to using her culinary knowledge and varied experiences to support initiatives that help everyone thrive. She views the Nelson Community Food Centre as a place where her diverse passions can flourish, contributing to a more interconnected and vibrant community. Ainsleah enjoys finding innovative ways to create beautiful, nourishing meals with limited ingredients, seeing cooking as a form of communication and a way to connect with people through the universal need for good food.

“Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.” – Anthony Bourdain

ainsleah@nelsoncfc.ca

MONICA RUIZ

Good Food Bank Coordinator

Monica recently completed her MBA at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops. Before that, she spent over ten years working at a food bank in Montana. She did all sorts of things, including large-scale event planning and management, organising an annual Thanksgiving Day race, helping food bank patrons access other community resources, maintaining websites and social media accounts, working alongside volunteers, and evaluating programs to support ongoing improvements. She and her family enjoy many of the outdoor activities Nelson has to offer, including mountain biking and skiing. She has a daughter at South Nelson School, where she helps out the PAC. Her household also includes a tubby tabby cat and a young cattledog mix.

monica@nelsoncfc.ca