The National Farmers Foundation is pleased to welcome two new board members to our team, Katie Ward and Jamie Baxter. Both Katie and Jamie bring valuable skills and experience to their new roles.
Katie Ward is a 9th generation family farmer from West Carleton-March, northwest of Ottawa. Along with her husband, Mathieu-Andre Chiasson, she raises sheep, pigs, and chickens on pasture which she direct markets to farmer’s markets and restaurants. She also grows hay, wheat, oats and barley, and vegetables.
Jamie Baxter is an Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University in Halifax, where he works on legal issues related to land, food, agriculture and local government. Jamie first pursued his graduate studies in economics, focusing on rural and community development, and was a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Appalachian Center, University of Kentucky. He went on to study law at the University of Toronto, clerked at the Federal Court of Canada and completed his doctorate in law at Yale. Jamie’s research group works closely with community organizations, most recently on projects about collaborative urban-regional food systems governance, shellfish and seaplant farming, and farmland tenure transitions.
Welcome, Katie and Jamie!