Alison Colwell is the Executive Director of the Galiano Club Community Food Program. The program is in its 15th year on Galiano Island and was formed to promote food security and community building through the medium of food.

Alison regularly teaches cooking and preserving classes, leads the “Soup for Seniors” frozen meals and community lunch program, the school hot lunch program, manages the Food Bank and organizes many of the popular community-wide events, such as Nettlefest, Winter Solstice and the Community Picnic. Over 50% of the island’s permanent population participate in these events annually.

Her duties include everything from grant writing to meal planning, volunteer co-ordination to kitchen management. She has taken classes with Fresh Choice Kitchens – on community kitchen leadership, with Bernardin on Canning skills, with Volunteer Victoria on Non Profit Leadership and Volunteer management and Food Safe training.

Before working for the Food Program, Alison was the owner of the Blackberry Patch Kitchen, a popular island bakery, and is the author of five cookbooks.

Emma Davis is part-time coordinator at the Galiano Food Program. She manages the popular Gleaning program, the Garlic co-op, and regularly organizes workshops and activities like the annual Stock-up Market. Emma’s background is in event coordination and non-profit administration. She served on the Food Program’s inaugural Steering Committee, as well as on the Board of Urban Sprouts, which cultivates school gardens in San Francisco’s under-served neighbourhoods. In 2011 she completed the Gardening and Composting Educator Training Course at San Francisco’s Garden for the Environment, including an internship at Little City Gardens, and she hasn’t put her broadfork down since!