Executive Director

Melissa brings all of her brilliant organizational and marketing skills to the County Food Hub. She was a founding board member of CFH and is a local business owner and entrepreneur who has a vested interest in seeing CFH succeed. As a mother of children attending Sophiasburgh Central School, Melissa has had a front row seat to see the impact that CFH has in driving community connections.

President & Chair of the Board

A Cobourg native Michael has worked across Canada as an educator, trainer and workplace performance consultant. Interested in food security and sustainable skills development he is excited to help the County Food Hub in developing a broader commitment to sustainable healthy food development and education.

Vice-President of the Board

Kerri has worked in the food and health fields as a holistic nutritionist, educator and cook for over 2 decades. She (her) is part owner/operator along with her husband Sean of 'Roots Kitchen' prepared meal delivery, operating in PEC since 2018. Roots Kitchen has been a tenant of the CFH since 2022. Kerri joined the board in 2023 to bring her passion for food security and education to help grow the community programming at the food hub. In her spare time you can find Kerri talking to plants in her garden with her cat Katniss by her side.

Treasurer

Alexander “Sandy” Murray
A result oriented financial professional with over five decades of diversified experience in Public Accounting and as Chief Financial Officer in both private and publicly listed companies. The later part of his career was spent in Public Accounting in Prince Edward County. Sandy has extensive experience both sitting on Boards and being a financial and risk advisor to boards of directors, both in the non-profit/charitable sector and the for-profit private and public enterprises. Sandy graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Dalhousie University and has held his Chartered Professional Accountants degree in Canada for 50 years and the USA for 25 years.

Secretary of the Board

Lindsay Forsey is a communications professional with two decades of combined experience working and volunteering in the nonprofit sector, in Canada and abroad. As a social-purpose entrepreneur, she once spent countless hours baking granola in a cooperative kitchen. Lindsay lives in Demorestville with her family and loves a good kitchen party.

Director of the Board

Karen Palmer is a former journalist and author of Spellbound: Inside West Africa’s Witch Camps. Her journalism has appeared in the Toronto Star, Washington Times, Sydney Morning Herald and South China Morning Post. Her fiction has appeared in Don’t Honk Twice: A Prince Edward County Anthology and the Dalhousie Review. An avid kayaker and yoga practitioner, she spends summer months taking a pick-axe to Hillier's notoriously rocky soil in search of gardening success. She works with the municipal government, connecting community builders and supporting local businesses in growing and diversifying.

Director of the Board

A County girl at heart, Vanessa was born in Picton and loved and appreciated the joy and privilege of spending time at her family cottage on Salmon Point for 60+ years. She and her husband, Richard, were able to fulfill their dream of retiring to the County 8 years ago. It is important to her to “do unto others” through volunteering. She has vast volunteer experience including: The Regent Theatre, Hospice Prince Edward, with the Demorestville W.I., as well as food security group Food to Share and most recently with the hospital auxiliary. She became more engaged with the County Food Hub volunteering through Food to Share and her desire to keep Sophiasburgh Central School open. Her happy place is in the kitchen and the making and sharing of food with others is an expression of love.

Director of the Board

Ramesh (Ram) Nadarajah is community-minded with a background in politics, economics and restaurants. His current interests are cooking over fire and foraging, as well as entrepreneurial pursuits. He hopes to bring a spirit of innovation and his logistical skills to the benefit of the County Hub. Ram lives in Sophiasburgh with his wife, stepkids and three dogs.

Past President and Advisory Committee

A Canadian Screen Award winning television executive and producer, Anne Marie Varner has held a multitude of positions in the Broadcast and Production sectors over the last 3 decades. Most recently, under her own banner of Varner Productions Limited, she produced two ground-breaking television series for the Accessible Media network (AMI) that explored food and current affairs through the lens of those with vision limitations and disabilities. A Canadian Screen Award winner, she has held positions as Executive Producer of Discovery Channel’s news series “Daily Planet”; Head of Canadian Production at Global Television and; is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation.

Special Advisory Committee

Albert Ponzo is the Executive Chef of The Royal Hotel in Picton. Albert brings over two decades of food knowledge and experience in sustainable farming as well as nose-to-tail eating. With a passion for working closely with nature and sourcing ethically produced ingredients in a sustainable manner; Albert strives to prepare farm-driven food with the best seasonal local ingredients at their ripest time. Prior to joining The Royal, Albert served as Executive Chef at Toronto's iconic Le Sélect Bistro where he was the creative force behind the restaurant’s contemporary rendition of classic French cuisine. He is a strong supporter of SlowFood Toronto and has received numerous awards, including: 2015 Winner of Toronto’s Cochon 555 Heritage BBQ, 2014 Awarded Fellow of the Ontario Hostelry Institute and 2012 Winner of Ocean Wise Toronto Chowder Chowdown. He has also worked at celebrated Toronto restaurants Canoe and Crush Wine Bar. In his spare time, Albert volunteers with organizations focused on food education and sustainability and supports the work of the County Food Hub, Second Harvest Food Bank, The Stop (Community Food Centres), The Child Development Institute, and many others.