Who We Are

Prior to obtaining her doctorate in geography, Annette was a small-scale cattle and grain farmer in Saskatchewan and she also worked as technical support to La Via Campesina for over a decade. She continues to conduct participatory research with member organizations of this transnational agrarian movement. Her main research interests are agrarian change, food sovereignty, questions related to land tenure, and rural social movements.

www.landfoodsovereignty.ca

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.

She was an elementary school teacher for 32 years, and has been active in food and farm organizations in the area since her retirement from teaching in 2008. She served as a director, vice-president and president of her National Farmers Union local, and as member and chair of the Food Policy Council for Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox-Addington; she was a founder and continues as a board member of the Kingston Area Seed System Initiative, an organization that supports regional seed-saving. She is a member of the National Farmers Union national farmland committee, and has co-chaired several regional and national NFU conventions. She is proud that two of her children have established their own farm businesses on the farmland she and her husband owned.

Yuill is an active participant in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change processes, has led model development for the International Energy Agency, and was a fellow of Project Drawdown. Yuill serves as a director on the boards of the Canada Research Chair on Sustainable Community Development, the Canadian Worker Cooperative Federation, and Tatamagouche Community Land Trust, where he lives at Waldergrave Farm. 

Kirstin holds a master’s degree in Community Engagement, Social Change and Equity from the University of British Columbia, centered on community-based and participatory research methods.

She brings to her role skills and experience in non-profit management together with a passion for farming, food sovereignty, and social, ecological, and climate justice.  Wyanne grew up on a small mixed farm in Prince Edward Island, and has worked with farmers throughout her life, first in PEI, then in Guatemala, and finally in Nova Scotia, where she now lives on a small homestead with her partner (a beekeeper) and their two young children. Locally, she is involved in organizing on food security, economic justice, as well as supporting migrant and climate justice initiatives.  

Over the years, Stewart has been elected by farmers to serve in various positions including: a Delegate to Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, the President of the National Farmers Union of Canada, a Board Member of the Canadian Wheat Board, and a Board Member of the Western Grains Research Foundation. Other connections have included Advisor to the Board of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, working with farmers in the UK and Mexico, and participating as part of the official Canadian delegation to the 2005 World Trade Talks in Hong Kong.

He is the former executive director of the Manitoba Eco-Network. He holds a BSc. from the University of Winnipeg that focused on geography, climatology and statistics.