2025 Food for Health Symposium 100 Million Better Bites Program
Welcome to Symposium 2025! Welcome to the Symposium — a week of conversation, reflection, and collaboration on the future of food and health. We’re excited to offer this year’s Symposium virtually to include world class global speakers, test our new digital platform, and manage our emissions. Over the next few days, we’ll explore how food can be medicine, climate action, and cultural repair all at once — and how health care leaders can help regenerate the systems that sustain life. Whether you’re here to learn, to share, or to spark new partnerships, we invite you to lean in with curiosity, courage, and care. This year, we’re thrilled to welcome you to the Nourish Commons, our new online home for collaborative transformation in food and health systems. Use the main feed discussion boards to keep the dialogue alive during and between sessions — share ideas, insights, and provocations. The Commons is where this movement grows roots, and it will be available to you all in this testing phase until January. With gratitude and anticipation on behalf of our team,
Hayley Lapalme & Jennifer Reynolds Nourish Executive Directors
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Meet the Nourish Team Amy Ford is Nourish’s Director of Planetary Health. With a decade of health care food leadership, she is intimately aware of the enabling factors for teams to achieve improved procurement values, community collaboration, waste reduction, and menus that are culturally mindful and low-carbon. Amy lives on land that has long existed in reciprocity with Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, and Lūnaapéewak peoples. Hayley Lapalme is Nourish’s co-Executive Director. Hayley is a systems thinker and facilitator who has spent a decade working with public institutions on pathways to more sustainable futures. Drawing on a background in adult education and systemic design, she weaves collaborations that rebuild connections to land, health, and each other. A franco-Ontarian settler, Hayley is now based in Victoria.
Jennifer Reynolds is Nourish’s co-Executive Director. She believes that aligning mission, mandate, and margin can transform systems, and that delicious food will drive innovation in healthy eating and sustainability. Based in Halifax, she has over 20 years of experience in local food promotion, sustainable agriculture, food security, and food policy. Ngaire (pronounced Ny-ree) Leaf is Nourish’s Manager of Events and Operations. Ngaire has a background in education planning, professional development, and nonprofit work, with a focus on food security. Passionate about sustainability, Ngaire embraces plantforward food and enjoys life with her family on the traditional unceded and ancestral territories of the q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), Máthxwi (Matsqui), & Se’mya’me (Semiahmoo) First Nations. Roya Damabi is Nourish’s Director of Innovation & System Transformation. Roya is a systemic design practitioner and design facilitator. Her work is informed by many lineages: systems and complexity, co-design, emergent strategy, developmental evaluation, design justice, nature, reflective practice – and a touch of whimsy. Roya makes Edmonton home in Treaty 6 Territory.
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The health care system harnesses the power of food to advance health for patients, communities, and the planet. Our Vision
Support health care providers to apply the healing power of food to advance health equity, climate action, and community well-being. Our Mission
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Our Symposium brings together inspirational speakers and thought leaders. Learn. Connect. Gain inspiration. Together with health care and food system leaders, practitioners, and partners, we’ll explore urgent and inspiring questions at the intersections of food, culture, climate, and care.
Get Social! Sharing an inspirational quote, interesting statistic, or important takeaways on social media? Please tag Nourish and use the hashtag #NourishSymposium2025
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Symposium FAQs What time do we start? The Symposium runs November 3-7 daily from 1pm to 4pm EST / 10am PT to 1pm PT. How do I join online? Access the Symposium by signing into the Nourish Commons - click 'Sign In' in the top right corner. All joining links, event information, and programming updates will be shared in the Commons. You must create your profile in the Commons to join the Symposium. Complete your profile by adding a photo and introducing yourself. Help! I can't find my registration or Zoom links. All links to join for Symposium sessions as a participant will be posted daily in the Nourish Commons. You will not receive any personal zoom or joining links via email. I've forgotten my Nourish Commons password! Go to the Nourish Commons and click on 'Sign In' in the top right corner. Click on 'Forgot Password' and follow the prompts. What is the Nourish Commons and why do I have to sign up? The Nourish Commons is Nourish's new online platform and the future home of Nourish's upcoming membership network. The Symposium is the first event Nourish is hosting in the Commons. Going forward, you'll be able to access all the Symposium recordings here, along with Nourish communities of practice, training and course offerings, webinars, working groups, resources, and more! By registering for the Symposium, you've gained free limited time access to this burgeoning space.
Enter to win the Commons Challenge! From now until end of the day on Thursday, November 6 enter to win a Nourish prize pack in the Nourish Commons! To enter, check off these Commons challenges: Complete your Commons profile by adding a photo. Introduce yourself in the ‘Introduce Yourself’ Channel. Comment on someone else’s post in the Commons. Join one of the Commons Grounds sessions on Wednesday or Thursday during Symposium Week. Winners will be announced during Friday’s Award Ceremony. Yay!
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Schedule at a Glance: MONDAY TIME (EST)
SESSION
1:00 PM
Opening Ceremony
2:00 PM
Session Block 2 Dishing up 100 Million Better Bites: A New Platform for Collective Impact on the Nourish Commons
2:20 PM
Break
Session Block 3A 2:30 PM
Keynote: The Future of Food and Health Zayna Khayat
Session Block 3B 2:50 PM
Global Perspectives on Bridging Nutrition and Planetary Health in Health Care Food Services Jenny Arthur, Nathalie J. Lambrecht, Kerstin Plehwe, Dr. Elisa Levi, & Zayna Khayat
3:50 PM
Introducing Tiaré Lani Symposium Graphic Recorder & Story Weaver
4:00 PM
End of Day One
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Schedule at a Glance: TUESDAY TIME (EST)
SESSION
1:00 PM
Opening
1:15 PM
Ǫgyǫhsraniyǫ́hsdǫh: Growing Partnerships for Food Sovereignty and Sustainability in Six Nations Nourish Third Anchor Cohort Sparkline Storytelling Kaya Hill & Sara Montour
Session Block 4 1:25 PM
Weaving Indigenous and Western Perspectives on Planetary Health Elaine Eppler, Dr. Nicole Redvers, Dr. Joseph Leblanc, Kitty Lickers, & Hayley Lapalme
2:30 PM
Break
Session Block 5 2:40 PM
Systems Change Masterclass: From Awareness to Influence Stephanie Cook, Shelly Crack, Hal Hamilton, & Hayley Lapalme
3:50 PM
Teeing up Tomorrow & Closing
4:00 PM
End of Day Two
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Sparkline Storytelling with Nourish’s Third Anchor Cohort
Each day during the 2025 Symposium we will hear a powerful story of change from the five teams of Nourish’s Third Anchor Cohort. Each team was asked to craft a story that tells, in their own way, their journey of change. Since September 2023, these food for health leaders have worked in place-based teams in their home organizations, and also collaboratively with each other, to shift mindsets, heartsets, budget lines, menus, and soil to make a difference for patients, health care systems, and their communities. Please join us in giving them a warm welcome! Through collaborative learning, innovative projects, and shared resources, cohort members drive change where food and health systems intersect. What is served on hospital trays has the power to influence health at every level – personal, community, and planetary. Nourish supports cohorts with coaching, mentorship, and learning around Western and Indigenous approaches to systems thinking and innovation. Cohort members lead projects that weave together sustainability, equity, and well-being to drive systemic change in food and health systems.
Help Lift Our Work Nourish is driven by a mission to create lasting change in food and health systems, but we cannot do it alone. We invite you to join us by contributing to our cause. Every donation, whether big or small, plays a crucial role in elevating our work throughout the year.
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Kick back and connect in the Commons Grounds
We invite you to join us in the Nourish Commons for Commons Grounds - an informal space to connect, reflect, and digest all your wonderful learnings and insights from the Symposium sessions. Bring a beverage and come ready to kick back, relax, and have some great chats with other Symposium participants. Who knows - you may even meet a speaker or two! At Commons Grounds, we’ll invite you into small breakout groups with other Symposium participants. We’ll have some table talk topics for inspiration, but where you take your conversation is up to you! While we aren’t in the same physical space for Symposium this year, through Commons Grounds you’ll find a space to dialogue, connect, and reflect with familiar faces and make new connections. If you’re new to the Nourish Commons (aren’t we all!), this is a great way to try out some of the functionality of the space and get accustomed to this new Nourish platform. The Nourish Commons: Home of Canada’s Food for Health Movement.
Join us for Commons Grounds Wednesday, November 5 Noon to 12:30 pm EST Thursday, November 6 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm EST Visit the Symposium space in the Nourish Commons to join. We look forward to welcoming you!
Schedule at a Glance: WEDNESDAY TIME (EST)
SESSION
1:00 PM
Opening
Harvesting Hope for a Healthier World 1:15 PM
Nourish Third Anchor Cohort Sparkline Storytelling Michelle Stranges
Session Block 6 1:25 PM
Anchor Leadership: Building Hospitals and Health Systems for the Future Brenda MacDonald, Darcia Pope, Dr. Myles Sergeant, & Stewart Wong
2:30 PM
Break
From Small Steps to Big Change: Our Journey for Planetary Health 2:40 PM
Nourish Third Anchor Cohort Sparkline Storytelling Donna Kwan
Session Block 7A 2:50 PM
Keynote: Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Diets: Pathways to a Triple Win Dr. Walter Willett
Session Block 7B 3:00 PM
The Plant-Forward Imperative and Meeting Protein Needs in a Warming World Lauren Baker, Kelly Gordon, Chris Marinangeli, Rob Percival, & Amy Ford
3:50 PM
Teeing up Tomorrow & Closing
4:00 PM
End of Day Three
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Nourish is accelerating the transition to food that is better for planetary health by providing health care institutions with tools for innovation and action.
From food waste reduction to plant-forward menus and valuesbased procurement Nourish’s Planetary Health Menus (PHM) program launched in 2023 and is currently comprised of three core offerings:
“The Planetary Health Menus program provides an exciting opportunity for the health sector to improve menus and access tools...” Coolfood Member Organization
Values-Based Procurement Primer The primer gives practical guidance on how to get better value for money while simultaneously creating value in food and health systems. A follow-up resource is due for release in early 2024. Sustainable Menu Guide Written by a food services manager for food services managers, this guide is geared to those empowered to create and deliver increasingly sustainable menus, one step at a time. Coolfood Pledge Coolfood supports health organizations to commit to and achieve a science-based target to reduce the climate impact of the food served.
Coolfood Pledge Coolfood is a globally-recognized, user-friendly way to quantify the climate impact of food, created by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and shared with Canadian hospitals in partnership with Nourish. Together with WRI, Nourish aims to have 100 hospitals join the Coolfood Pledge by 2026. This year, we welcomed 16 hospitals across five organizations, collectively serving over 4 million meals. Learn more at nourishleadership/programs/planetaryhealth
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Schedule at a Glance: THURSDAY TIME (EST)
SESSION
1:00 PM
Opening
1:15 PM
Our Journey: Integrating Country Food into Healthcare in Newfoundland and Labrador Nourish Third Anchor Cohort Sparkline Storytelling Dana Marshall
Session Block 8 1:25 PM
Putting the Values in Value Chains: Building Future-Fit Food Systems Ajay Vir Jakhar, Jason Baillargeon, Rebecca Tran, Michael Yarymowich, & Wendy Smith with Amy Ford
2:30 PM
Break
Session Block 9 2:40 PM
Food as Medicine: Addressing the Root Causes of Malnutrition Annie Marquez, Carlota Basuldo-Hammond, Sarah Stern, Dr. Teela Johnson, & Jennifer Reynolds
3:50 PM
4:00 PM
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Teeing up Tomorrow & Closing
End of Day Four Join us for Commons Grounds! (4:30 pm - 5:00 pm EST)
Schedule at a Glance: FRIDAY TIME (EST)
SESSION
1:00 PM
Opening
1:15 PM
The Five Tastes of the Nourish Cohort Nourish Third Anchor Cohort Sparkline Storytelling Elaine Chu
Session Block 10 1:25 PM
Culinary Medicine: Mini-Documentary World Premiere Elaine Chu, Eric Sanderson, José Morais, Lindsey Botnick, Julia MacLaren, Melanya Kushla, & Roya Damabi
2:20 PM
Break
Session Block 11 2:30 PM
Nourish Awards Let’s Celebrate!
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
Closing Ceremony with Graphic Recorder and Story Weaver Tiaré Lani
End of Symposium 2025
Scan the QR Code to be notified about the launch of Nourish’s Culinary Medicine Community of Practice!
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Fostering a deeper understanding of the complex relationships between Indigenous foodways, Reconciliation, healing, and health care. With the 10 Year Anniversary of the TRC we invite you to reflect: where is your reconciliation journey? As a nation, we are behind on our commitments. Deepen your personal and organizational journey to fulfill the TRC’s Calls by signing up for the 2025-26 Food is Our Medicine learning journey. FIOM empowers healthcare providers to harness the power of food as a pathway to Truth and Reconciliation. The program is a unique opportunity to explore the intersections of food, culture, and healthcare. You’ll learn how to incorporate Indigenous foodways and culturally mindful approaches into your practice, fostering better health outcomes for all. 6 Interactive Virtual Learning Circles: Shared space to unlearn, ask questions, and hear directly from Indigenous leaders in sessions guided by Nourish and members of the Indigenous and Allies Advisory. Honour Indigenous Knowledge: Deepen your understanding of how to respect and uphold Indigenous traditions while contributing to the ongoing journey of Truth and Reconciliation. Decolonize Healthcare: Learn how to challenge systemic inequities and create a more equitable and just health care system. Improve Patient Outcomes: Increase your abilities to enhance nutrition, reduce illness, and support healing through the power of food. Learn more at nourishleadership/programs/foodisourmedicine
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“I am so grateful & humbled by the opportunities this journey provides for the dietetic profession and anyone who works in health care or in connection to food.” FIOM Past Participant
Introducing Tiaré Lani Symposium 2025 Graphic Recorder & Story Weaver Tiaré (Two Spirit of Lheidli First Nation, Mahu of Hawaiian descent) draws live murals to make visible collective wisdom and amplify stories that nurture healing, kinship, and belonging. Visual story weaving is not just live recording, it’s decolonizing narratives & breathing life into visions for collective liberation. Tiaré listens for the medicine in our collective: centring intersectional solidarity, Indigenous self-determination, pro-Black, sacred Matriarch, queer, trans, 2Spirit & leadership, disability justice, and land stewardship (or as Kanaka’s say, Aloha Aina). Since 2016, Tiaré has been listening to groups work towards collective transformation and drawing murals of our visions and ways of being together. This journey has inspired Tiaré to practice skills of connection for building safety, dignity, and belonging in groups. Relationships grow at the speed of trust. Movements grow at the speed of relationships. – Rowan White, Sierra Seeds Tiaré grew up biking by the Lhiedli waters, where the Two Rivers Meet with their mama and 2 siblings, picking berries and finding frogs. As an Indigiqueer Two Spirit person, Tiaré is shaped by water, land, movement, queer and trans, and BIPOC kin. Tiaré’s healing journey led them to embrace embodiment and pleasure activism. They connect through the body, land, water, spirit, ancestry, and ritual to open to possibilities more beautiful than they could have imagined. Tiaré is looking forward to offering 1:1 support & groups for those who longing for more erotic aliveness, embodied creative business practice, and intimate liberation. Tiaré will be drawing alongside all of our speakers and sessions for Symposium 2025. Watch their drawings come to life by visiting Tiaré’s Drawing Room during the Symposium. The link will be shared in the Nourish Commons.
Hello my name is Tiaré. I draw live for groups to weave our connection and amplify our aliveness, humanness, and dreams. From our daily lives to visiting elders and loved ones in the hospital I know that care filled meals are more than just calories - it's love, personality, flavour, spirit. As a person living with chronic tummy inflammation, food is everyday magic that connects me to my body, comfort, hope, and the dears I share it with. You can often find me kitchen witching ginger, lemon grass, star anise, orange peel, Chinese cinnamon and bones to warm my bones and belly and feed my loves. I feel passionately that 100 million better bites will infuse our world with more beauty, connection, healing, and joy - not just preventative care but food as building beautiful & full lives. tiarelani.com/
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Speakers and Moderators Ajay Vir Jakhar is a farmer based in Village Maujgarh in Punjab, India. He is Chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj (Farmers’ Forum India) formed in 1955, a non-political association of farmers advocating the crucial need to focus on farmer prosperity. He is also the Chairman of Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission in Punjab, a member in a village cooperative, and is on the EAT Foundation advisory board. He graduated with a degree in Geography and his hobbies are walking and reading.
Annie Marquez has a Master's Degree in Nutrition and has completed several management training courses. With CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-l'île-de-Montréal, she is part of several innovative projects, including, with Nourish Leadership, the creation of the Sustainable Menu Guide and the Hôpital Solidaire project. Currently, Annie is the Food Services Coordinator at CCSMTL and works with La Transformerie and its team to reduce food waste at all stages of meal creation. She also collaborates with external partners to integrate sustainable development criteria into food tenders to increase the share of local purchases in the food served. Each project allows the team to better respond to user requests while increasing the share of sustainable foods in more than 6 million meals served each year by the CCSMTL.
Brenda MacDonald is the Senior Director of the Nutrition and Food Services program at Nova Scotia Health where she oversees more than 1000 wonderful team members involved in clinical nutrition care, food services, healthy eating, and dietetic practicum internship in 43 facilities across Nova Scotia. Brenda believes food is medicine and is focused on building a culture of nutrition where food and nutrition is recognized for its value in health, recovery, and healing.
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Carlota Basualdo-Hammond is a Registered Dietitian with almost 25 years in leading dietetic practice. Since 2011, she has been the Executive Director, Nutrition Services, Provincial Strategy Standards of Practice, Alberta Health Services. She works collaboratively within Nutrition and Food Services to address malnutrition and improve patient outcomes. She is also currently the co-chair of the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force Advisory Committee.
Chris Marinangeli has a PhD in Food and Nutrition Science from the University of Manitoba and is a registered dietitian with over 10 years of experience across consumer packaged goods and the Canadian agriculture sector. His expertise includes national and international food regulations, regulatory affairs, and consumer insights and equity for developing strategies and tactics to meet business needs. He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee for CFDR and is a jury member for Agriculture Agrifood Canada’s Food Waste Reduction Challenge.
Dana Marshall is Regional Food Animator for Labrador with Food First NL where she works to inspire and support community food action. She is Project Lead with the Labrador Anchor Collaborative, and is co-founder and co-host of the Ajuinata Podcast, sharing powerful stories of change from Indigenous communities and allies where food and health meet. She is a powerful advocate for Indigenous and country foods and their role in culture, health, and community well-being.
Darcia Pope is VP Strategy, Innovation & Planetary Health at Vancouver Coastal Health where she draws on years of experience in healthcare including roles in change leadership, information technology, strategy and transformation. In this role, Darcia leads the Planetary Health Strategy for VCH and she believes that health professionals have a tremendous opportunity to protect our clients from the impacts of climate change by working to create sustainable, climate-smart health systems.
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Donna Kwan has been a registered dietitian for over 20 years and started her career with a focus on diabetes nutrition management. Later transitioning to work in food services and food service systems management, her role encompasses all things CBORD and she involved in various projects and food services procurement. Currently, Donna is an Application Specialist at Unity Health Toronto and a co-Project Lead for Team Toronto as part of Nourish’s Third Anchor Cohort. An avid baker and tea drinker, she is rarely seen without a cup of tea.
Elaine Chu, RD is the Director of Food Service Transformation and Strategic Projects at Fraser Health in British Columbia. She is a Registered Dietitian with over 20 years of experience in hospital food service management, and is passionate about leveraging the power of food to advance people's health and planetary health. She led Team BC Lower Mainland as part of Nourish’s Third Anchor Cohort.
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Elaine Eppler, RD is a clinical dietitian who has worked at Vancouver General Hospital for 38 years, providing nutrition care to inpatients on the Neurosciences Unit. In December 2021, she embarked on Nourish’s transformative Food is Our Medicine learning journey. Its many teachings, including “two-eyed seeing” (Etuaptmumk) and the relationality of Indigenous foodways, continue to inspire, guide, and propel Elaine’s converging pathways of advocating for healthy, sustainable, just eating patterns, contributing clinical nutrition knowledge and perspective to planetary health menu initiatives within Vancouver Coastal Health, and exploring ways dietitians can embed planetary health care within professional practice. Elaine is a member of Nourish’s Indigenous and Allies Advisory and sits on the executive for Dietitians of Canada’s Sustainable Food Systems Network. Through gardening and photography, Elaine also expresses and deepens her love for Mother Earth.
Dr. Elisa Levi is passionate about lifelong learning and supporting innovative causes that work towards positive change at an individual and population health level. As a consultant she has advised numerous non profit, government and Indigenous organizations on food and health strategies working with Indigenous peoples. She graduated from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, later completing residency in the McMaster Rural Family Medicine program within the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, where she currently practices family medicine. She holds a Master of Public Health from Lakehead University and Bachelor of Science with a focus on Nutrition from Toronto Metropolitan University as well as dual designation as a Registered Dietitian. She is a proud Anishinaabe, mother of two and member of the Chippewas of Nawash in Ontario. Dr. Levi is a Nourish Ambassador.
Ellen Cecilie Wright is Senior Science Officer at EAT. In this role, Ellen is part of the EAT-Lancet Commission, the Communities for Action, and other knowledge and action projects. Ellen’s professional background is in nutrition and sustainability, with more than 15 years’ work experience from research and international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
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Hal Hamilton co-founded the Sustainable Food Lab and now serves as Senior Advisor. Hal’s career began as a commercial dairy farmer in Kentucky, and over the years he became a community organizer, led leadership development programs, succeeded Donella Meadows as executive director of her Sustainability Institute, and co-founded the Academy for Systems Change. His passions include system change, supporting individuals and teams to be effective, and renewing farming regions to be good places to live and work.
Jason Baillargeon joined Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in 2003 and has had the opportunity to work on a broad range of files including public trust, branding, sector strategies, valuechain coordination, and international marketing. Jason was appointed Director of Food Policy in September of 2018. Jason has an honours degree in International Business and an MBA from Carleton University.
Jenny Arthur is a nutritionist and marketer with extensive experience. Head of Coolfood, Jenny is a strategic thinker with vision and passion for health, sustainability, and solving complex food industry challenges. Jenny is experienced at developing strategic partnerships and stakeholder engagement both internally and externally, working across multiple product categories and global markets with an excellent awareness of food industry issues.
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Jenny Cross is a qualified ECE at Skidegate Daycare Center on Haida Gwaii. The center has an Aboriginal Headstart Parent and Tot Program where Jenny passes on knowledge of traditional cultural teachings. These include Haida language, song and dance, harvesting and processing of seafood, medicinal plants, wild berries. Jenny and the Headstart program collaborates with island organizations, knowledge keepers and elders. Jenny is passionate about passing on the knowledge of the ancestors to the next generations. She is also a traditional Haida singer who teaches song and dance to the children in the community.
José Morais is the Director of Food Services at the BC Provincial Health Services Authority. He believes that even minor adjustments in how services are delivered can have a major impact. José encourages others to “look at the little things, talk to your team, and try out new ideas.” José is an active member of Team BC, part of Nourish's Third Anchor Cohort, and the Culinary Medicine Project Team.
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Dr. Joseph William Leblanc, PhD (Chi Ishkode Inini) is an Anishinaabe scholar and health equity leader working at the intersection of Indigenous food systems, community health, and education. His research and advocacy focus on food sovereignty, decolonizing health practices, and equity in medical education. He has delivered national and international presentations and serves on multiple boards advancing Indigenous-led food and health initiatives across Canada.
Julia MacLaren, RD is a passionate Culinary Dietitian, is the Alberta Health Services Wellness Kitchen Consultant. With over 17 years of experience in federal, academic, and primary care roles, she fuels innovative knowledge translation and practical interprofessional nutrition care interventions through Culinary Medicine programs. These programs, delivered with clinical teams and broadcast media, are accessible to 4.4 million Albertans, and address preventative and condition-specific topics for all ages. She co-leads the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative’s Nutrition Committee, developing best practices for healthcare and academic settings.
Kaya Hill serves as the Lead of the Student Nutrition Program at the Six Nations Department of Well-Being. Rooted in a commitment to community well-being and food sovereignty, Kaya works to increase access to nourishing, culturally relevant foods for children, families, and the wider community. Through initiatives such as the Ǫgyǫhsraniyǫ́hsdǫh Nourish Project, she focuses on building partnerships and weaving traditional Haudenosaunee foods and teachings into programs and services, supporting a healthier and more sustainable future for Six Nations.
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Kelly Gordon has worked as a Registered Dietitian for over 20 years, focusing on community wellness. Kelly is Kanyen’keha (Mohawk) and a proud mother of two energetic teenagers. A graduate from McGill University, Kelly works with McMaster University as the Associate Director at the Indigenous Health Learning Lodge. Previously, she worked with Six Nations of the Grand River at the Department of Well-being in various health leadership roles and as a community dietitian. Kelly is a lecturer at Toronto Metropolitan University, currently teaching Indigenous Food Systems in Canada. Kelly volunteers as a board director with Community Food Centres Canada and Nourish, and also cochairs the Nourish Indigenous and Allies Advisory. Kelly’s work focuses on honouring Indigenous knowledge and how it can be foundational in her everyday work, supporting community members on their journey towards their own wellness.
Kerstin Plehwe is an award-winning entrepreneur, international board professional and powerful business visionary. As global CEO of PAN International and President of PAN USA, a fastgrowing health- and nutrition focused medical organization, her vision is to help people and organizations to win the war against diet-related diseases. She believes and has personally experienced that food can dramatically change lives and that it is the most underestimated and underused instrument in public health as of today.
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Lauren Baker is Deputy Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, where she leads program strategy. With Alliance members and partners, Lauren leads program strategy and supports diverse organizations and initiatives including the True Cost Accounting Accelerator, Transformational Investing in Food Systems, and the Agroecology Coalition. Previously, Lauren led the Toronto Food Policy Council and was the Founding Director of Sustain Ontario — the Alliance for Healthy Food and Farming. She has started two businesses, Annex Organics and Urban Harvest. With a PhD in Environmental Studies, Lauren taught at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University. She lives in Toronto where she enjoys gardening, cooking, and wilderness canoeing and kayaking with her husband and sons.
Lindsay Botnick is the Director of Food and Nutrition Services at St. Joseph’s Healthcare London. A Registered Dietitian with over 14 years of experience in healthcare, she has held a variety of roles within Food and Nutrition Services, progressing from administrative dietitian to coordinator, manager, and now director. She is deeply passionate about providing safe, highquality, and nourishing meals to patients, and values collaboration, feedback, and innovation as key drivers of continuous improvement. Lindsay believes that food is the medicine that serves body, mind, and spirit.
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Marissa Alexander is the Co-Executive Director at Food Secure Canada. She is a registered dietitian who is passionate about anti-racism, food security, and equity. Living and working on the traditional and unceded territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, she has had the honour of working alongside 55 First Nations communities in northern B.C.. She is privileged to connect with many different peoples and communities through her anti-racism consulting work. In her little spare time, she is working on her MA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on equity and cultural studies. Marissa is always looking for opportunities to elevate voices and lived experiences. When she is not focused on social justice work, she likes to spend time with family, friends, and her dog Ru. You can often find her crafting or creating, and she tries to include humour in her work as much as possible. Marissa serves as co-chair of the Nourish Indigenous and Allies Advisory.
Melanya Kushla, MS, RD, LD/N, CHES is the founder and CEO of Taste & Thrive, a virtual teaching kitchen program where she helps clients overcome perceived barriers to achieving a healthy lifestyle by enhancing their experience of eating, relationship with food, and facilitating self-discovery of their own drivers of nutrition-related behaviour. Melanya's specialty and background are in culinary nutrition and food is medicine (FIM) interventions for diet-related chronic disease and preventive health, with an integrative and holistic nutrition philosophy of care.
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Michael Yarymowich is Director, Sustainability at Aramark Canada where he is responsible for strategic planning, program development and reporting at the national level. At a time when issues concerning sustainability and the environment are more important than ever, he and his team are dedicated to sourcing out and working with suppliers and producers who are willing to solve the dilemma of reducing unnecessary waste without sacrificing quality.
Michelle Stranges is Specialist for the Quality, Transformation, and Innovation team at St. Joseph’s Health Care London, specialized in food services. She has worked in Food and Nutrition Services for 10 years, leading a variety of projects, and supporting service and production model changes in the kitchens, along with process improvements. Since 2022, she has led St. Joseph’s Nourish project through Nourish’s Anchor Cohort program, focused on starting an on-site garden in partnership with Urban Roots London, localizing food procurement, reducing food and packaging waste, and piloting food prescriptions. In 2024, Michelle received the Green Leader Community Choice Award and earned first place at the Canadian College of Health Leaders Innovation Event. When she is not improving processes or presenting a pecha kucha, you can find her at beginner dance classes, soccer, or perfecting a cookie recipe she tried once.
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Dr. Myles Sergeant is a family physician who has worked with vulnerable populations, including new immigrants and refugees, people experiencing homelessness and/or addictions, and the elderly, over the past 25 years. Recognizing the intersection between environmental issues and health, he is dedicated to addressing climate change issues. Dr. Sergeant co-founded Partnerships for Environmental Action by Clinicians and Communities for Health care facilities, the charity Trees for Hamilton, and the not-for-profit Shelter Health Network.
Nathalie Lambrecht, PhD is a Planetary Health Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, affiliated with the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Nathalie's research aims to evaluate solutions that promote equitable, resilient, and healthy food systems for current and future generations.
Dr. Nicole Redvers, DPhil, ND, MPH, is a member of the Denı́nu Kų́ę́ First Nation (NWT, Canada), and is an Associate Professor, Western Research Chair, and Director of Indigenous Planetary Health at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. She also currently serves as VP, Research at the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC). Dr. Redvers has been actively involved at regional, national, and international levels promoting the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in both human and planetary health research and practice. Dr. Redvers sits on the Canada Research Coordinating Committees’ Indigenous Leadership Circle in Research (ILCR), the steering committee for the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA) out of John Hopkins, and is an advisory member to the WHO Technical Advisory Group on embedding ethics in health and climate change. She is also Coordinating Lead Author on the Health and Well-being chapter of Working Group II’s Contribution to the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report (AR7), and sits on three Lancet Commissions. Her work engages a breadth of scholarly projects attempting to bridge gaps between Indigenous and Eurowestern ways of knowing as it pertains to individual, community, and planetary health in the context of climate change. Dr. Redvers is the author of The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles.
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Rebecca Tran is founder of The Station Food Hub Company, a value-add food processing facility that upcycles local food into usable products for wholesale and retail customers. An experienced Dietitian with a demonstrated history of working in public health, community settings and schools, Rebecca holds a Master of Health Administration focused in Health/Health Care Administration/Management from The University of British Columbia.
Rob Percival is an author and campaigner working for the Soil Association in the UK, a charity promoting agroecology and sustainable diets. As the charity’s Head of Food Policy, he leads advocacy on food system change, with a focus on ending industrial animal farming, tackling corporate capture, and enabling healthy, minimally processed diets. He is also the author of The Meat Paradox, a book exploring the cultural and cognitive complexity of omnivory and the contentions of the modern meat debate.
Sara Montour is a Nutrition Activator with the Child and Youth Health team at the Six Nations Department of Well-Being. She leads hands-on, land-based programming that connects children and youth with traditional foods, Haudenosaunee teachings, and the natural environment. Sara fosters food knowledge, practical skills, and confidence in young people, supporting their overall well-being while strengthening relationships with the land and ancestral foodways. Her work empowers the next generation to engage with healthy, culturally rooted foods while sustaining community and cultural knowledge.
Sarah Stern is Executive Director with the Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security. She is responsible for management and operations of the Centre including building the portfolio of projects which it supports. Sarah has spent the majority of her career in the non-profit sector working for Right to Play, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario and United Way of Greater Toronto, and has a history of building cross-sectoral partnerships to create social change. Sarah holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Rotman School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Allison University.
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Shelly Crack has been a registered dietitian with Northern Health for almost 20 years. She focused the first half of her career on providing community dietitian services to a variety of first nation communities in Northern British Columbia. Living and working on Haida Gwaii, an island off the coast of BC with an abundance of local and traditional food, has taught Shelly the importance of people’s connection to their land and food. Shelly believes that serving traditional food from the land and sea in hospitals supports all forms of wellbeing including physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. Jenny Cross and Margaret Edgars have been mentors to Shelly over the years and she is grateful for their teachings.
Stewart Wong is Vice-President, Communications, Strategy, and Sustainability at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, where he holds direct responsibility for communications, organizational strategy, space management, food, environmental services, facilities management and environmental sustainability. Stewart is a seasoned senior executive with over two decades of leadership in communications, strategy, facilities management and sustainability, specializing in the not-for-profit and health care sectors. His career is defined by a commitment to creating meaningful impact - whether through spearheading vaccine distribution programs for children with disabilities, advancing environmental sustainability in health care, or developing advocacy campaigns to shape public policy. He brings expertise in strategic planning, inclusive hiring, emergency preparedness, and change management, backed by a track record of awardwinning communications and advocacy campaigns.
Stephanie Cook is the Executive Director of Nutrition and Food Services for the Saskatchewan Health Authority. She is passionate about food and nutrition and has led initiatives aimed at improving nutritional well-being, including developing healthy food policies and combating malnutrition in hospitalized patients. Stephanie, like many living in the Prairies, has ties to the farming community and is committed to shortening the distance food travels and redefining the value of local food. She is a Registered Dietitian with a Master’s of Science from the University of Alberta. Stephanie was a member of Nourish’s Innovator Cohort.
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Dr. Teela Johnson, MSc, MD, CCFP-EM is a hospitalist and emergency physician at Unity Health Toronto with a passion for the intersection of health, nutrition, and climate change. She is an advocate for food as a way to prevent and treat chronic diseases while addressing environmental sustainability. Dr. Johnson actively works with organizations like the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and Canadians for Responsible Food Policy to push for policy changes that support both public health and the planet.
Dr. Walter Willett is a physician and epidemiologist and Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He served as Chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard for 25 years. Much of his work has been on the development of methods, using both questionnaire and biochemical approaches, to study the effects of diet on the occurrence of major diseases. He has applied these methods starting in 1980 in the Nurses’ Health Studies I and II and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Together, these cohorts that include nearly 300,000 men and women with repeated dietary assessments are providing the most detailed information on the long-term health consequences of food choices. Dr. Willett has published over 2,000 research papers, primarily on lifestyle risk factors for heart disease and cancer, and has written the textbook, Nutritional Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press. He also has four books for the general public. Dr. Willett is the most cited nutritional scientist internationally. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the recipient of many national and international awards.
Wendy Smith is a Sourcing Manager with Mohawk Medbuy Corporation’s MEALsource program. She has over 30 years of institutional procurement experience and has been working with Nourish in the capacity of Procurement Advisor since its inception. As well, Wendy has sat on the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council since its inception in 2020 advising the federal government on Food Policy, including the new National School Food Program and food system supporting public procurement strategies. Wendy also serves on the Nourish Board.
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Zayna Khayat, Ph.D. is the Chief Program Officer at AMS Healthcare, where she leads the strategic design and delivery of the organization’s flagship programs in Artificial Intelligence & Compassion and the History of Healthcare. Zayna is also adjunct faculty in the Health Sector Strategy stream at the Rotman School of Management and serves as the in-house health futurist with Deloitte Canada’s Healthcare practice. Zayna earned her PhD in diabetes research from the University of Toronto. A recognized voice on health system transformation, she advises health technology companies across Canada and internationally. She serves as board chair with Nourish.
Behind the scenes of ‘Flavourful Connections: A Taste of Culinary Medicine’ mini-documentary film.
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Join us for the world premiere on Day 5 of #NourishSymposium2025.
Nourish Awards Join us at this year’s Symposium on Friday, November 7 to celebrate leadership and honour longstanding changemakers and emergent voices in food-health transformation. We are so pleased to be able to recognize our 2025 individual and team recipients.
Below The Planetary Health Menu Project Team at Vancouver Coastal Health.
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Above (L) Remembering Margaret Edgars. Above (R) Representatives of the Food and Nutrition Services team with the Nova Scotia Health Authority
Margaret Edgars Reconciliation Recognition “Food is Love” Award Nourishing Traditional Food in Health Care & Community 2025 Recipients In honour of Margaret Edgars, who passed into the Spirit World in summer 2023, Nourish created the Margaret Edgars Reconciliation Award. The award is presented to individuals or organizations advancing Indigenous foodways in community and health care settings. These actions include acknowledging the history, land, and water in ways that create positive, lasting impacts for future generations. This also includes what Margaret always kept front and centre in our conversations: the importance of “putting the love in food.”
Laura Salmon has led the field and practice of making traditional foods accessible to patients in health care for 25 years. She has mentored so many in dietetics, in thoughtful governance, and in meaningful settlerIndigenous collaborations. Laura has shared her wisdom as a Nourish board member, a member of the Nourish Indigenous & Allies Advisory, and as one of the co-authors of the Food is Our Medicine learning journey, all while maintaining her role as Director of First Nations Health Programs at the Yukon Hospital Corporation, ensuring self-identifying Indigenous patients have access to the cultural dimensions of care to support their well-being. Laura’s work exemplifies the spirit of Margaret Edgars: honouring knowledge, culture, and the land, while strengthening relationships that lead to real, lasting change. Northern Health exemplifies commitment to settler-Indigenous collaboration on traditional foods. Shelly Crack, Tessie Harris, Jenny Cross, and Margaret Edgars herself joined the first Nourish cohort back in 2017, deeply committed to expanding access to traditional food for community members on Haida Gwaii. The team honours Haida wisdom and culture by holding it as the central guiding force of their efforts, which include navigating colonial mindsets and policies around food safety, to ensure elders and patients had access to salmon, oolican, berries and the culture that supports their healing while they are in care. For their deep commitment to doing work around valuing Indigenous knowledge and carrying out Margaret’s vision of food as love and food as medicine, we recognize the remarkable team at Northern Health.
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Nourish Planetary Plate Award Protecting the health of people and planet for today and future generations. The Nourish Planetary Plate Award recognizes those advancing the health of people and planet through thoughtful, systemic leadership in organizational food practices. Recipients demonstrate leadership in reducing the environmental impact of food in healthcare settings; advance climate-conscious food strategies that are culturally appropriate, nourishing, and rooted in equity and care; and, inspire change within and beyond their institution through education, collaboration, or innovation in planetary health.
Annie Marquez has made a tremendous impact by spearheading lowcarbon menus, integrating sustainability goals into procurement, and building partnerships with community food organizations and diverse stakeholders. As part of the first Nourish Innovator cohort, Annie led the development of the Sustainable Menu Guide, a comprehensive, step-bystep resource designed to help food service directors navigate the complexities of six key dimensions of sustainability. In the second Nourish cohort, Annie expanded her impact by forging innovative partnerships to create Hôpital Solidaire - an initiative dedicated to providing free healthy meals for patients in hospital cafeterias and vouchers for fresh produce markets to improve food security and strengthen sustainable local food systems. Most recently, Annie has led a pioneering collaboration with La Transformerie, focusing on minimizing waste throughout the entire food journey, from field to tray to compost. Her visionary leadership continues to demonstrate how health care can serve as a catalyst for environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and planetary health. Vancouver Coastal Health’s Planetary Health Menu Project Team is redefining hospital food as a force for healing, cultural connection, and climate action. Led by Dr. Annie Lalande and Tiffany Chiang, the team unites chefs, clinicians, dietitians, and planetary health experts to build a more sustainable, patient-centred food system. The Planetary Health Menu Project demonstrates that sustainable food systems can elevate patient care, empower staff, and support the planet. With its blend of innovation, cultural relevance, and system-wide leadership, this initiative sets a national benchmark for climate-smart, compassionate health care.
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Nourish Anchor Leadership Award Bold, visionary leadership leveraging the power of food in health care to create just and thriving communities. The Nourish Anchor Leadershp Award recognizes bold leadership that harnesses the power of food to create resilient, equitable, and community-rooted health systems. Recipients of this award show courage and vision in making food a central strategy for health, economic justice, and community well-being. They leverage institutional influence, build authentic partnerships, and make bold policy and procurement choices to support regional economies, build food sovereignty, and strengthen local food ecosystems.
Michelle Stranges is a bold, visionary leader transforming how food is understood and used within healthcare. At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, she has redefined food as a catalyst for healing, sustainability, and community connection. Through her leadership with the Nourish cohort, Michelle has advanced health equity, sustainability, and local food systems. Her work embodies courage, creativity, and compassion, turning a small innovation grant into a flourishing model for sustainable, equitable, and community-rooted healthcare food systems.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority’s Nutrition and Food Services Team exemplifies leadership in advancing a culture of nutrition across Nova Scotia - one that fosters healing, supports recovery, and strengthens the province’s local food system. Through evidence-based strategies, they have significantly improved patient outcomes, most notably through the implementation of the Enhanced Room Service model in 13 hospitals since 2018. This initiative empowers patients with greater choice regarding when and what they eat, enhancing both satisfaction and nutritional intake. Beyond addressing hospital-based malnutrition and achieving patient feeding goals, the team has demonstrated exceptional commitment to sustainable and localized food procurement. Their leadership is bold, strategic, and deeply grounded in leveraging public dollars to create a stronger local food economy, reducing waste to support planetary health and improve patient care.
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Thank you to our 2025 Symposium Sponsors & Partners.
Thank you to our funding partners for your ongoing support.
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Miigwech. Merci. Thank You. in
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2025 Food for Health Symposium Program
November 3-7, 2025