Meet Elena! The new Food Network Coordinator!

My name is Elena and I am passionate about food in all areas of my life. I love to cook for my friends, support new gardeners, and welcome visitors to my little community garden off-island called the Food Forest Project. I study the intersection of food sovereignty and climate change and I will be pursuing a Masters on this topic Fall 2025. After several years in nutrition research, I started working with community-centered non-profits and collectives, which led to me joining the CFC team as the new food network coordinator! As the FNC, I’m looking forward to creating connections with and between campus food groups, supporting the Concordia farmer’s market, and bolstering the movement to build food-sovereign campuses in Montreal and beyond.

To me, food is the great connector. Every single one of us needs to eat, so food is one of the main ways that human beings relate to their environment– land, water, and sun. Around the world, people are connecting to their home food system every day, whether that’s going to the grocery store, market, forest, tending to livestock, hunting, fishing, or growing a garden.

More and more, home food systems are subject to a huge, global food system with long, international commodity chains which form a vast network ranging from production, to processing, to distribution, to waste. Most people on Earth are impacted by this global food system and its ties to politics and economy (i.e., colonialism and capitalism). 

It is so important to grow awareness about these Big Global Powers shaping what food ends up on your plate, or if food ends up on your plate at all. If you eat, then you are an actor in this next era of food system changes. Reflecting on the place of food in my life makes me feel connected to something bigger than myself. Food justice is an essential part of our shared humanity that has the potential to spark radical transformation in how we relate to each other and Land. 

I encourage you to be curious about the place of food in your life too, and connecting with the CFC and campus food community is a great place to start!

I’d love to hear your thoughts—whether you’re passionate about food justice, curious about starting a new program, or looking for ways to get involved, let’s connect! You can learn more about the STIR-FGD program here. The next application period will be coming up soon, so keep an eye out!

If you have questions about the program, you can reach me at foodgroups@concordiafoodcoalition.com