Annual Report 2023
Guided by our new strategic framework and clear mission/vision, 2023 was a busy year for Food First NL. We started new projects, released reports and recommendations, hosted webinars, held presentations, popped up, planned, convened, collaborated, and so much more.
Our 2023 Annual Report highlights this work. It groups our programming under our four strategic pathways: Advocating, Organizing, Taking Action, and Valuing People. We also reflect on what the right to food looked like in 2023 — a year when food insecurity continued to rise across the country.
Explore Our Work In 2023
Reflections
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Food First NL, thank you for your continued engagement with our work. Daily, we rely on that engagement to make progress toward our mission of advancing the right to food in Newfoundland and Labrador.
2023 was a heavy year — I saw that weight settle onto the shoulders of our team, our partners, and all the communities we work with. And yet, we found hope… Hope, above all, in the commitment of people across the province to change.
Last year, we adopted a new mission, “To advance everyone’s right to food in Newfoundland and Labrador.” Take a look at 2023 through a right-to-food lens and look ahead at the possibility for transformation in 2024.
Funders
Catherine Donnelly Foundation
Center for Local Prosperity
City of St. John's
Common Approach to Impact Measurement
Community Food Centres Canada
Community Foundations of Canada
Farm Credit Canada
Food Secure Canada
Government of Canada: Public Health Agency of Canada
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development
Department of Health and Community Services
Department of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills
Isaac Operations
Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security
Memorial University of N.L. Public Engagement Accelerator Fund
Medavie Foundation
Northpine Foundation
Nourish Leadership
Pretty-Woodrow Foundation
Private Donors
Staff
Current
Joshua Smee, Chief Executive Officer
Ashton Lane, Finance and Administration Manager
Sarah Ferber, Program Manager
Heather Reid, Communications Coordinator
Kim Budgell, Finance and Administration Coordinator
Alison Bennett-James, Program Coordinator
Ashley Byrne, Program Coordinator
Laurel Huget, Program Coordinator
Richard Butt, Program Coordinator
Sarah Crocker, Program Coordinator
Dana Marshall, Regional Food Animator
Leah Vatcher, Regional Food Animator
Les Perry, Regional Food Animator
Samantha Young, Regional Food Animator
Kerrin Rafuse, Communications Assistant
Madi Hynes, Program Assistant
Rasheed Ature, Program Assistant
Outgoing
Carla Saunders, Program Coordinator
Jill Elson, Regional Food Animator
Emily Alexander, Program Assistant
Pam Anstey, Program Assistant
Sierra MacNeil, Program Assistant
Board of Directors
Current
Carolann Harding, Chair
Andre Myers, Vice Chair
Greg Noseworthy, Secretary
Brian Butt, Treasurer
Jamie Jackman
Janine Woodrow
Prem Nijhawan
Melissa Caravan
Florence Gushue
Ivan White
Deborah Coombs
Outgoing
Darryl Legge