New year means new staff members! Welcome to Juneeja and Rachel

The Food Secure Canada Youth Caucus is pleased to welcome new recruits, ready to join their voices to the movement. Here is a brief biography of these two foodies:

Juneeja Varghese had her interest in food security and the food system reaffirmed during her Masters degree in Science and Technology Policy at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focused on the impact of genetically modified cotton in India and how it set the stage for the dialogue around genetically modified food. With her passion for combining the food system with community education, she helped develop Youth Take Action education program through North York Harvest Food Bank as well as a summer internship program at the Black Creek Community Farm, engaging high school youth in urban agriculture and creating a greater awareness of food justice. Currently, Juneeja coordinates food security projects in Scarborough, building community capacity around food and environment sustainability. She also sits on Toronto Youth Food Policy Council as its Vice Chair. Having grown up in different countries, she enjoys exploring new green spaces and trying out dishes from various regions.

Rachel Lévesque specialized her studies in food security and the right to food. Her master’s thesis was on the impact of market speculation on food commodities during the 2008 food crisis, the event that really sparked her desire to tackle food insecurity and inequalities. That brought her to be part of the « Free the Food » movement in Quebec city, where a community fridge was put in place to bring awareness to food wastage while giving food for those in need. Rachel is also an active volunteer at Action against Hunger Canada, where she is in charge of the education programs in the Quebec area. Currently, Rachel works as a food security analyst in the Global Issues and Development Branch of Global Affairs Canada. She is also in charge of the communications and outreach for Food Secure Canada's Youth Caucus.

2015 was an important year for the Youth Caucus team, with the work we have done during the election campaign. In 2015, we were given a new government, with new opportunities, but also new challenges. In 2016, we must take these opportunities to put forward our goals, not only strengthening our structure but also incorporating the many diverse and under-represented youth voices into the food dialogue. To the agenda: we’ll shortly schedule the next regular calls to discuss the next steps.  We also look forward to bring an engaged youth presence and event at our much awaited Assembly!