Adrian Burke, President

Adrian is an archaeologist and a professor at Université de Montréal in the Department of Anthropology, with a lot of experience working for food-based organizations. When he lived in the USA, he was a working member of the Honest Weight Food Coop in Albany, NY, the second largest member run food coop in the USA, for six years, and a board member for one.  He worked as a member of the Regional Farm and Food non-profit for four years, where he organized farm visits and started the first farmer's market in the Capital district - still running in Troy, NY. He also worked on  the new USDA organic certification.  I also helped start and hosted most of the time a farm radio show on WRPI. (I have 4 years of experience in radio)
But maybe most important of all, he has been vegetable gardening since he was 10 years old (withpictures to prove it!). When he lived in the city, he had a community garden plot for many years. Now, living in Hudson, he currently grows a lot of his food.

Robyn Rees, Vice-President

Through her engagement in the local food movement in Montreal and at Concordia University, Robyn became convinced that focusing on building resilient food systems is the key to engaging society in ensuring a liveable future. For the past 8 years she has been dedicated to learning and engaging in all aspects of building sustainable food systems from ecological, social and economic perspectives, at both practical and theoretical levels. She is committed to building networks and communities of knowledge and practice through her role as the general manager of the HFC, and is excited about the potentials for a more resilient Hudson. 

Vaneza Callejas, Secretary

Vaneza is a program and project manager working in transportation research and communication. She discovered the HFC through volunteering with the Kitchen Garden project. She believes in having a strong connection and understanding of where our food comes from. A big part of this is supporting community-based food initiatives and producers. Beautiful, healthy food leads to beautiful, healthy communities!

Itzel Vazquez, Director

Itzel grew up on a farm was brought up with traditional foodways. As a child, she grew up eating only small-scale ecologically-raised meat. Thirteen years ago when she was pregnant with her first child, she became more aware and concerned with the industrial food system. For the past ten years she has intentionally eaten a diet that is over 90% organic. For the past eight she has worked on eating as local as possible, which may explain why she seems to personally know every local or organic producer and merchant around.  Her value-driven approach to cooking, especially when it comes to sourcing her ingredients shines through in her work as the Head Chef of the HFC Harvest Parties  and the Food Transformation Project Coordinator. 

Noel Dhingra, Director

When Noel became Farm Manager at the Heartbeet in 2019, he brought with him seven years of professional experience in organic agriculture, including two years as co-owner of Cadence Ecological Farm. Noel sees food as an integral part of how healthy environments and communities interact. He dedicated years to developing and delivering programming with Community Food Centres Canada that highlight food as both a social justice issue, and an influence on personal and community health. He seeks to increase access to sustainable agricultural practices and the dialogue around them so that more people participate in the role their local farms play within their community.

Ian McRoberts, Director

Ian has been passionate about environmental stewardship since his childhood days in the Canadian Rockies. He moved to Hudson in 2019 in order to live closer to the land and put down some roots after 16 years living in crowded, noisy cities. He joined the HFC community not long after that and was happy to join the board in 2021. With a background in theatre, communications, interpretation and language teaching, he is still new to the world of agriculture and humbled by the knowledge and experience of everyone he has met at the farm. He is committed to doing his part to support and spread the word about the important work of HFC. When he's not working his day job with Oxford University Press, you'll likely find Ian walking with his family in the forests and trails around the Vaudreuil-Soulanges, working on his humble house in the village, playing with his food, or helping out and learning at the farm. 

Frances Michaelson​, Director

When Frances graduated university, the world was hit by a fever... aerobic fever! A pioneer in the fitness field, she competed in the 1990s, opened a personal training studio in 2001, and introduced a line of exercise products to Canada, branded Muscleup. 

In 2008, having recognized the need to go deeper into studying the science of human physiology and chemistry she entered a school of naturopathy. Since graduating in 2011, she has counselled hundreds of people, providing them with the tools and support to lead a vibrant and healthy life. Her first book, Let’s Practice Health: Learn Why Your Gut is the CEO of Your Health tells the tales of clients who turned symptoms of discomfort and disease into true health and vitality. As a trainer and naturopath, she truly loves seeing people transform themselves by trusting their bodies. Practicing health is the only way to live the gift of life well! 

Based in Hudson, Québec, Frances is a frequent conference speaker, author, and blogger.

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