Agriculture and farmland protection are more than buzzwords for me.
My summers growing up were spent visiting my grandparents’ farms in Southern Manitoba, instilling a lifelong love of agriculture and rural places. So when I had the opportunity to join a research team looking at farmland loss and how to stop it in 2002, I jumped at the chance. To be part of this research project, I enrolled in the Rural Studies PhD program at the University of Guelph. (Somehow the fact that I had three young children and I might not actually have time to do a PhD escaped me!)
Our project team looked at everything from farmland loss statistics, land use planning policies, greenbelts, and land trusts. We convened multiple meetings with farmers, farm organizations, planners, policy analysts, and legal experts. I was on the organizing team for an international conference hosted at the University of Guelph and out of that conference I co-edited the Farmland Preservation: Land for Future Generations book with chapters contributed by the conference speakers. Another outcome of this research project was the development of the Ontario Farmland Trust, a not-for-profit organization that currently protects 3,365 acres of farmland across Ontario. I was one of the founding board members of this organization and it’s so exciting to see how it has grown and evolved over the years!
Upon completion of my PhD, I worked in the Office of Research at U of G as the Knowledge Mobilization Program Manager for the OMAFRA-U of G Partnership (now called the Alliance). This was an amazing opportunity to learn more about agriculture, agri-food, environmental sustainability, and rural policy from a research perspective. My job was specifically aimed at getting research knowledge into the hand of people who could put it to good use. This often looked like convening meetings, workshops, knowledge exchange events, webinars, you name it. If I could think of ways to connect people to talk about science and agriculture, I would do it!
Following this role, I embarked on a new adventure by starting my own agricultural consulting company, based in Fergus. Over eight years, our team was fortunate enough to work with a wide variety of clients across the agri-food sector. As mayor, I will continue to follow this passion and protect our farmland and agricultural businesses in Centre Wellington.
