Board of DirectorsThe work of the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership is overseen and steered by its Board of Directors. The Board is accountable to members of the Food Partnership. Board members are elected each year at the annual general meeting. The Board is made up of up to nine Food Partnership members elected by the membership to represent the membership at Board level. These elected members are the directors of the company and are supported by appointed and co-opted members who add to the extensive range of skills and expertise on the Board. There is an appointed place for representatives from the public health team at NHS Brighton & Hove, the City Council, Food Matters (as founders) and for a Councillor from the Sustainability Cabinet. The elected members retire a third at a time on rotation, unless there are vacancies due to retirement. Durwin Banks (elected) Durwin is a farmer growing and pressing linseed for its omega3 fatty acids. He is keen to promote local, sustainable food and to raise awareness about how closely food is linked to health and how the environment is shaped by what we eat. He attends farmers’ markets with his linseed products, High Barn Oils, and gives talks about the history and health benefits of linseed and flax. Peter Deadman (elected) Peter has been involved with natural foods - cooking, eating, selling, growing, writing about - for over 35 years, starting with the setting up of a natural foods restaurant (Biting Through) at Sussex University in 1970, which led to the founding of Infinity Foods and subsequently the Brighton Natural Health Centre (BNHC). He also co-wrote a natural/local/organic foods cookery book (Nature's Foods) in 1973. He subsequently moved into the field of Chinese medicine and has increasingly focused on writing about and teaching what Chinese medicine calls 'health preservation' - how to maintain good health through lifestyle. Inevitably, diet plays a major role in heath preservation - especially eating less and eating vegetable foods in preference to animal foods. He is currently chair of the trustees of the BNHC and over many years has developed experience of assisting an ideological and educational charity. Since the days of Infinity Foods through to today, he has been involved in running a range of successful businesses. He is committed to natural foods and believes passionately that a local, organic, ethical, community-based food policy is a key part of the solution to many of the problems we currently face. Victoria Williams (co-opted) Victoria Williams and her colleague Clare Devereux run Food Matters, a Brighton-based not-for-profit organisation that offers support and expertise to organisations and individuals working towards creating more sustainable and equitable local, national and global food systems. Food Matters has worked with the Food Partnership since its inception and holds a co-opted place on the Board due to their expertise on issues such as organic production, sustainability, GM crops, consumer attitudes, local food systems and food poverty. Victoria represents Food Matters on the Board where she continues to lend her expertise to the FP. Sue Dibb (Chair, elected) Sue sits on the Board in a personal capacity. She has been an advocate for healthy, sustainable food from over twenty years working with the Sustainable Development Commission, the National Consumer Council, Sustain, the Alliance for Better Food and Farming, and the Food Commission. Sue is passionate about supporting the Food Partnerships mission to develop a healthier and more sustainable food system for Brighton and Hove. Sue lives in Brighton with her family and is the Executive Director of The Food Ethics Councill. Joyce Edmond-Smith (elected) Joyce has lived in Brighton for 40 years. She served as councillor on Brighton and then Brighton & Hove Council for 20 years, until May 2007, where she represented the Hanover/Hanover & Elm Grove ward. During that time she was Chair of the Women’s Committee, Deputy Leader, Chair of the Environment Committee, and Convenor of the Sustainability Commission, where she was one of the founding members of the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership. Joyce trained as a sociologist and taught Sociology and Access courses for adults in Further Education for 25 years. She has always combined that with a passionate interest in the environment and sustainability, as well as animal welfare. Joyce has two grand-daughters, who keep her up to date. She has been a vegetarian for about 30 years and her (scarce) spare time is spent reading, cinema, family – and she loves to cycle around the lanes and by-ways of Sussex with the Brighton & Hove Clarion Club. Josie Jeffery (elected) Josie is an active gardener and plant lover and currently runs gardening workshops for all age groups, which focus on making seedbombs (http://www.seedfreedom.net/). She has also written a book on seedbombs which focuses on the benefits community gardens and schemes. She is a parent of three sons and believes a healthy diet promotes a healthy mind and a better understanding of how to preserve a healthy environment! Francesca Iliffe (appointed) Increasingly, there is a recognition that planning needs to reflect 'Healthy Urban Planning': taking into consideration the impacts on health of planning policy and decisions. This covers a lot of issues which include consideration of food deserts, food access, siting and type of retail, allotments, potential for food growing areas, access to health services, recreational and green open spaces, sustainable transport, community provision including community cafes/kitchens, local food distribution infrastructure. She predicts there are some key issues will drive transformations in the food agenda. These are climate change, decline in oil production, sustainable waste management, and diet-related disease such as obesity - these are all areas where she will be championing local food, reduced packaging and increased home/community/commercial composting, and access to and promotion of healthy local food. Lydie Lawrence (appointed) Barbara Myers (elected) Barbara has been involved in the Food Partnership since its early days and continues to bring her professional skills as a health broadcaster and journalist to the work of the Food Partnership’s Board. She represents the Board on the Brighton and Hove Healthy City Partnership and often offers her services as a presenter and Chair at Food Partnership meetings and events. She has been hosting Check Up, a health programme on BBC Radio 4, since it began in 1998. Chris Sutton (elected) Chris is the Director of Little Purple Dot, Brighton based Community Interest Company and has recently joined the FP as Treasurer. He is a qualified accountant and also trained in SROI, a system to measure social and environmental impact. He is well placed to offer the Food Partnership financial management support. He has a strong interest in food and has carried out pro-bono work for Slow Food UK and the Food Ethics Council. He is just completing an MA in Food Policy at City University, London. Ollie Sykes (appointed) Cllr Sykes is a Brighton & Hove City Councillor from the local Green Party. He is also an environmental scientist with professional expertise in sustainable and greener living. His role on the Food Partnership board is to represent the interest of the local council, whilst acting as an advisor for any issues concerning the council and the Food Partnership. Bryn Thomas (elected) Shirley Ward (elected) Shirley is a Brighton-based Nutritional Therapist who is passionate about promoting the message of healthy eating. She runs her own practice, Down To Earth Nutrition, and is a full member of both BANT (British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy) and the Federation of Nutritional Therapy Practitioners. As well as providing individual nutritional consultations, she delivers corporate workshops and group presentations; all with the aim of improving health and addressing chronic health issues. Shirley writes articles for various organisations such as YourDocMedical (health screening organisation) and is the resident nutritional expert for Sensitive Foodies, a food intolerance website. Consuming locally produced, sustainable foods is at the heart of her personal and company’s ethos. She is a keen allotment holder and hopes to help Brighton & Hove Food Partnership in achieving its future funding, in order to develop a healthier and more sustainable food. |