Sarah Keyes- Co-chair
Sarah has been working in food for over a decade. From 2014 to 2020 she coordinated and managed food literacy programs for Loving Spoonful, overseeing the growth and enhancement of community and school garden-based programs as they expanded to impact thousands of people each year. Sarah has also spent time in B.C. designing and facilitating critical food skills camps for youth, working on farms in South America, and coordinating community gardens. She grew up and studied on the east coast of Canada, completing her Masters of Environmental Studies in food systems at Dalhousie University.
Ellen Mortfield Co-chair
Ellen lives in Sydenham and is currently working as the Family Services Coordinator at Southern Frontenac Community Services. She spent the past 30 years in Thunder Bay, where she was ED at an environmental not-for-profit, EcoSuperior. The organization partnered with the City and the local health unit to develop the Thunder Bay & Area Food Strategy.
Ellen has always lived rurally and grew up on a small farm in Elginburg where they raised most of their own food! Ellen joined the Food Council because she believes local food access is a critical issue. Her education and work history was focused on communications, media and marketing and she hopes to help move the councils priorities forward using those skills.
Rupa Patel Co-chair
Rupa is a family physician currently working at Kingston Community Health Centre and Queens University Department of Family Medicine. She has been a family doctor for over 25 years and feels that healthy and accessible food is essential for one’s well-being. Both physical and mental health improve when one has a connection to real food, local food systems and eating with others. Food is medicine!
Bruce Higgs
Bruce retired from Industry in 2000. He's lived on Howe Island for 45 years. Born and raised on a farm near Dresden, Ontario, his father, grandfather and uncles were all farmers, growing; corn, soy beans, wheat, tomatoes and hay. Bruce currently holds the office of Deputy Mayor, Frontenac Islands, and is a Frontenac County Councillor.
John Singleton
John is retired from 32 years of Government of Canada employment, having worked as a Retail Food Officer and Manufactured Food Inspector. With Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada, Industry Canada, and Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Toronto, Belleville, Ottawa and other locations, he specialized in Consumer law enforcement. He has lived in Napanee for 39 years.
Neil Hobbs
I am a British-trained family doc. I Immigrated to Northern medicine in Labrador and Newfoundland in the 1970s. I retired from teaching family medicine at Queen’s University 1987-2007, then was in part-time private practice in Kingston, Tamworth, and the Sahtu Region in the Northwest Territories 2008-2020. My wife Hazel and I, have lived in the village of Sydenham for fifteen years. Have in later life been interested in gardening, community and family life; and various aspects of food – nutrition, entertaining at home. We have two children and two grandchildren, Clementine and Marigold. Leaving the world a better place for them, and for our communities in general has become increasingly important. I joined the Food Policy Council as a good way of doing this.
Rachael Mather, RD, BASc
Rachael is a Public Health Dietitian in the Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Division at KFL&A Public Health. Rachael’s work activities focus on improving healthy food access among KFL&A area residents. Rachael completed her nutrition degree at the University of Guelph, and her internship through the Northern Ontario Dietetic Internship Program.
Roger Romero
Roger Romero is a first generation Canadian who came to Canada as a refugee from El Salvador in the early 1980’s. His life and work experience fuels his passion for community building and equitable social development. Roger currently works with Kingston Community Health Centre and uses his education and life experience to support, coach and advocate for young people. Roger values the positive social impact created by a sustainable and accessible food network.
Hailey Smith
Hailey grew up in a rural community just outside of Guelph and moved to Kingston to study geography in 2012. While studying in Kingston, she had the opportunity to learn about the community and the unique local food environment in Kingston, as well as the challenges that the community faces. She enjoys cooking, gardening in her backyard, and sharing food with others. Hailey joined the Food Council because she believes in access to healthy food and food education for everyone.
Karen Bach
Karen is an ordained Presbyterian minister who worked for a number of years at Yonge Street Mission in their drop-in centre for street-involved youth in downtown Toronto. They would provide healthy nutritious meals to well over 100 youth each day. She also worked in the head office overseeing meal and other services to people of all ages living with poverty. Since retiring and moving to north of Perth Road Village, Karen and her husband have turned part of an old pasture into a large vegetable garden to provide themselves, their grown children, their neighbors, Loving Spoonful, and the South Frontenac Food Bank with heritage, organic vegetables. From her experience both on a farm growing up and serving people living with poverty as an adult, Karen is acutely aware of the importance of good nutrition to the overall well-being of individuals and thereby the health of the community. She is pleased to participate in the Food Council.
Sarah Dwane
Sarah was born and raised in Kingston; after having the opportunity to live in numerous Canadian cities and in several other countries as a young adult, she returned to Kingston to start her career and raise a family. Sarah began working for the City of Kingston in the social services field in Nov 2000. She is committed to delivering service to the citizens of the community with integrity, empathy, and professionalism.