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Food Sustainability

With the global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, sustainable agricultural practices become paramount. Climate change’s impact on agriculture, coupled with the shocking fact that one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted, calls for urgent action. 

2023 / 2024

Participating Students Collectively Reduced 60,827.81 g CO2eq in Only 1 Week!

If students were to continue their initiatives for the rest of the year, it would result in reducing GHG emissions by 

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3,171,736.017 g CO2eq !

Award Recipients

Sustainable Cooking: Nourishing the Planet, One Plate at a Time

Eric Zhang

Initiated a sustainable cooking project aimed at reducing carbon emissions by adopting a more plant-based and locally-grown diet. 

1st Place Award: Grade 11 & 12

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Generation Green Food Waste Project

Serena Shah

Centered around transitioning from dairy milk to almond milk in order to reduce carbon footprint. This choice was motivated by its simplicity and the potential for widespread adoption, offering a tangible way for individuals to make a positive difference in daily lives.

1st Place Award: Grade 8-10

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Ugly Foods Initiative

Gabriela Jaramillo, Harshini Hariganesh, Sofia Rocha, Francesca Rocha

Created a seminar for school peers to encourage them to buy from the discounted food shelf in grocery stores to reduce food waste. 

Most Impactful Award

Food in Harmony

Dawn Li

Educated the local community about the impact of food waste
and personal food choices on climate change, in order to promote sustainable food production and consumption. 

Most Creative Award

Chlorofill Technologies

Sarim Khan, Abd Allah Madani, Ahad Bhatti, and Tony Xu

Created an AI chatbot providing people with personalized meal plans that prioritize health and minimal food waste/greenhouse gas emissions. The chatbot continues to recalculate the user's reduced emissions throughout their journey, empowering them to make sustainable choices and visualize their environmental impact. 

Most Innovative Award

Speakers

Thank you to all of our wonderful speakers this year!

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Margarita Fontecha

Margarita is a PhD Candidate in Rural Studies. She has a master’s degree in Sustainable Development and 10 years of experience in research for impact, knowledge mobilization, monitoring, and evaluation of development projects and programs. She has experience collecting data (qualitative and quantitative), analyzing it, and elaborating knowledge mobilization pieces and strategies to support stakeholders’ decision-making processes. She collaborates with the Arrell Food Institute.

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Negin Ficzkowski

Negin returned to McMaster to complete her master’s degree in engineering and public policy where she focused on ecosystem-based management and policy development. During this time, she also developed a new set of skills delivering early STEM programs while working with youth and communities to address sustainability challenges through education. She is now working full force on establishing her consultancy firm, Wired in Nature, as a leader in facilitating the uptake of nature-based solutions for climate resiliency and works closely with local communities as well as federal and provincial practitioners on establishing frameworks and best practices in Canada.

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Samantha Casey

After earning her degree in Environmental Governance, Samantha returned to the University of Guelph as a staff member, contributing to initiatives to enhance operational, environmental, and social sustainability on campus. Currently, she holds a unique joint role as the Communications and Engagement Coordinator for the UofG Sustainability Office and the Sustainability Coordinator for Hospitality Services. She is incredibly passionate about youth engagement, environmental education and creating opportunities for students to learn through doing. Outside of her role at the UofG, Samantha is heavily involved in her community and holds various volunteer roles in local organizations.

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Elin Marley

After studying anthropology at the University of Guelph, Elin found that food was a perfect way to tie together her interests in cultural studies and environmental issues. She continued her studies at the University of Oslo, completing a program called “Culture, Environment and Sustainability.” Working on an organic farm in 2009, Elin learned a ton about growing food and was also reminded of how real carrots taste! Since 2010, Elin has worked as a School Garden Educator, teaching elementary school students about growing food, where our food comes from, and getting hands-on experiences in the natural world.

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Seiiyinthan Nageswaran

Seiiyinthan is the Climate Change Specialist within the Climate Change Response and Sustainability team at Halton Region. As a member of the team, he helps support initiatives that advance the Region’s climate change response and sustainability efforts. He previously spent some time at the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). Seiiyinthan has a Master of Environmental Science (MEnvSc) degree from the University of Toronto specializing in Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation and has an Honors Bachelor of Science degree from McMaster University specializing in Environmental Science and Biology.

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Eleanor Hayward

Eleanor has 20 years’ experience as a health professional in Halton Region as a Registered Massage Therapist, and is passionate about empowerment, embodiment and evolution for holistic wellbeing and personal development. She is working towards her undergraduate degree in Social Psychology & Political Science part time at McMaster University. Since Girl Guides in her youth, Eleanor has felt a strong sense of Earth stewardship and has a world vision of connected relationships for social and environmental justice. Building on her leadership experience as co-founder of MiltonGreen Environmental Association Inc., Eleanor was proud to stand as 2018 Candidate for the Green Party of Ontario, then 2019 for the Green Party of Canada in Milton, to represent our community in the principle of sustainability for seven generations and beyond.

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Meaghan Richardson

Meaghan is the Interim Executive Director of Food for Life. A Professional Agrologist with passion for food security, regenerative agriculture and circular economies, Meaghan is on a mission to ensure that food grown for people, reaches people – regardless of whether it is imperfect, ugly or in surplus. Co-chair of the Halton Region Food Security Action Table, and Director on the Halton Region Federation of Agriculture, Meaghan believes that great change is made through collaboration, alignment and systems approaches. Meaghan and her husband, Norm run a family farm in North Burlington where they grow + raise grain, hay and livestock.

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Kale Black

At age 34, Kale Black (He/Him) has already accumulated more than 15 years of experience working in the environmental movement, helping to create a better world for people, the environment, and all forms of life that we share this beautiful and precious planet with. As an experienced Meditation Facilitator, he has incorporated mindfulness into all of his work and teachings and most recently, has been working as an Equity Practitioner with a focus on anti-racism training, working with both local and national organizations. He believes that mindfulness is an essential component to behaviour change in any context and uses this as a starting point for meaningful transformation. An inspiring, honest, funny, and enthusiastic speaker, Kale has a knack for connecting with audiences of all ages and is passionate about sharing his wisdom and the motivational lessons he has learned along his journey.

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Shaheen Bagha

Shaheen has managed scientific projects and collaborated internationally to advance research in biotech and agriculture. As a guest speaker, she has lectured on a variety of topics at the university level and to the general public. Currently, she is focused on Project Management and using her skills outside of academia. Shaheen has a PhD in Plant Biology from UoT,  where she designed and managed projects related to thesis work on the impacts of climate change on rice yields.

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Ziadh Rabbani

Ziadh (he/him) is currently the Learning Design Coordinator at Community Food Centres Canada where he facilitates learning with over 400 community food organizations across Turtle Island/Canada. Previously he was a Garden coordinator at one of the first community rooftop gardens in Toronto where he worked with youth, newcomers and racialized community members to grow food, share and learn together. His passion for food and growing is rooted in his Bengali culture, learning from his parents in their backyard in Scarborough and connected to generations of farmers and caretakers of the land. He strongly believes that the garden is the best classroom and that growing food is environmental, social and political.

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Tiffany Henry

Tiffany is a mixed-ethnicity, urban Indigenous woman from the Cayuga nation who came to Islam by faith. She is passionate about life, learning, and healing through food.
 
Sharing experiences and learning from the diverse sources of knowledge that others hold keeps her rooted in the community. She has felt the void of the lack of Indigenous healing centers in the Halton Region, while on her own path towards healing personal and intergenerational trauma and seeking to reconnect with her many roots. She is here to do the neccessary work and be the fruition of our national commitment to Truth and Reconcilation. This has led her to start a land-baed healing lodge for alternative approaches to hollistic health, and connect the sacred of Mother Earth; Time to Earth Teaching; Healing and Wellness.

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Dr. Marc Conteduca

Dr. Marc is a Board-certified Naturopath in Ontario. He graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours degree in Human Kinetics where he developed a strong interest for nutrition and health sciences. As a Naturopathic Doctor, his focus is to find individualized methods suitable to one’s lifestyle. He helps people with chronic health concerns manage their concerns with a patient centred approach that emphasizes both prevention and treatment. He can work collaboratively with your conventional medical interventions or provide safe and effective alternative solutions that will assist you in reaching your health goals.
Dr. Marc has also been working in hospitality for over a decade. In 2018, he decided to take his passion for food & health to a new level, and he began his career as a private chef providing unique culinary experiences centred around healthy eating.

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As a community, we have the responsibility to honour, care for and respect all the Creation gives to provide us with life. This includes the land, water, air, fire, animals, plants and our ancestors. The Anishinabek Peoples have utilized this land for millennia and we would like to acknowledge their direct descendants, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, as the rightful caretakers and titleholders of this land upon which we live, work and conduct ourselves. We acknowledge our treaty relationship and responsibilities to both the land and these original peoples. We also recognize that this land is rich in pre-contact history and customs, which includes the Anishinabek and Haudenosaunee and since European contact, has and continues to become home for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. And it is in the spirit and intent of the Dish With One Spoon, wampum agreement whereby we will collectively care for and respect the land, water, animals and each other in the interests of peace and friendship and for the benefit of not only ourselves but of our future descendants.  
The HEN Office resides on Treaty 22, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

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The Halton Environmental Network is a proud member of the Halton Equity and Diversity Roundtable (HEDR) and has signed their Charter to foster an inclusive Halton community. 

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