Valuing People

Valuing people — as individuals, community members, partners, and experts — is central to Food First NL’s work and role in the community. Last year, we established the Lived and Living Experience Advisory Group. The Group uses their Lived Expertise as food insecurity and poverty consultants with Food First NL and other provincial organizations. We also continued growing our team of staff across the province and building our internal capacity.

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Valuing Lived Experience

Lived and Living Experience Advisory Group

Founded in 2023, the Lived and Living Experience Advisory Group (LLEAG) is a group of twelve people across Newfoundland and Labrador who have lived/living experience of poverty and food insecurity. They meet regularly to use their knowledge to inform policies and programs through Food First NL and other community partners.

LLEAG went from an idea and extensive research document to a fully formed group in the past year. In the spring, we recruited and brought our Members together to form a cohesive group. We then focused on training and discussing food insecurity and poverty as systemic issues, rather than individual failures. We wrapped the year up with an in-person summit, where the group decided on their direction, priorities, vision, etc. This group is fired up — 2024 will be a big year of consulting and advocacy.

12 hands placed in a circle on a green wooden surace, all pointing towards the centre.

The LLEAG Summit was members’ first opportunity to meet in person and create a shared vision and goals for the Group.

2023 Project Highlights

  • Finalizing research on best practices in the spring and then recruiting 12 incredible individuals as Members

  • Completing training and learning together about colonialism, racism, classism, and sexism as system causes of poverty and food insecurity

  • Getting together for our in-person Summit, when Members decided on six core advocacy priorities, how to work/learn together, and how to support one another to grow and thrive

“To learn to be brave, to be myself and to love me and others better, let them know they are not alone. If a person like me, who often feels awkward and out of place can speak up, so can you. I now know I have the heart of a warrior, it’s time to believe it.”
— Anna, LLEAG Member
A wooden warf jutting out into a shallow ocean water with a rock-piled coastline in the foreground. A rainbow-painted dory is up on dryland and outbuildings are in the background.

Extending Our Gratitude

  • Madi, Josh, and Heather for their constant, reliable support with problem-solving, day-to-day work, gut checks, and daydreaming

  • Suzanne, who started this project and placed the research foundations

  • Miranda Cobb, for her guidance, wisdom and support during the learning curves, complexities, and self-doubt inherent in any new project

  • Most of all, the LLEAG Members, who are the only people who could make LLEAG what it needs to be and who regularly challenge and inspire us

Human Resources

2023 was a year of change and growth for Food First NL. We grew to 17 staff — saying farewell to 5 wonderful folks and welcoming 7 to the team. Our team lives throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and mostly works remotely. While our staff have always lived around the province, this may be the most spread out we've ever been. It's an exciting opportunity to connect with our province-wide mandate in different ways.

Equity and care are still our top priority in our human resources policies and practices — especially amidst these changes to our workplace. Creating a workplace where staff feel valued and supported is core to our work. In 2024, we plan to update our Human Resources Policy to reflect how we have evolved as an organization in recent years and how we all work together now.

A group of people, standing and kneeling in two rows, smiling at the camera while standing on a ferry deck with a small community behind them.
A rocky cliff in front of a brillian blue ocean. A group of people are loosely clustered on the cliff over looking the ocean.
A large hoop greenhoues with a bed of small leafy green plants running down the middle. People are walking and chatting on both sides of the garden bed.

Highlights from our staff retreat to Bell Island in June, 2024.

2023 Highlights

  • Getting a full slate of Regional Food Animators in place for community requests

  • Hiring a dream team for the Western NL Food Hub’s relaunch

  • Bringing on two passionate and experienced staff to lead the Nourish Anchor Cohort and our new school meals project

  • Partnering with Conservation Corps NL to host an intern (who hopefully will never leave)  

Extending Our Gratitude to the Helpline Team

We want to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who worked on the Community Food Helpline as staff and partners during its almost three years of operation. We recognize that you stepped up time and again in situations that were complex, challenging, and heart-rending. You were an incredible team that inspired the whole organization with your skill, empathy, passion, and critical thinking. Thank you so much, Helpline team!

Learn more about the Community Food Helpline and its impact in our Organizing: Food Charity Programs section.