The Centre for Local Prosperity is excited to continue our new series Building Community & Economic Resilience Through Re-localization with webinar #2: Local Investment for Local Impact: Linda Best (FarmWorks Investment Co-operative) with FarmWorks Investees Sebastian Chow & Paul Hill. Episode 2 will features a panel discussion/interview with Linda Best from FarmWorks Investment Co-operative, Paul Hill from Hill’s Jamaican Jerk Sauce/Maritime Foods, and Sebastian Chow from Green Gardens Farm (two FarmWorks investees) with a conversation about their experience with and the impact of local investment. We will begin with an interview/panel discussion, followed by a Q&A.
Linda Best – FarmWorks Investment Co-operative: Linda Best, BSc Acadia, grew up on an Annapolis Valley farm; Medical Microbiologist and Gastroenterology Researcher; former Director of Capital District Health Authority; operated an apple orchard; founded Frame Plus Art which grew to three stores. Awareness of food-related health issues led her to help establish Friends of Agriculture, which planted the seeds for FarmWorks Investment Cooperative Limited, a Community Economic Development Investment Fund. As a Founding Director, Linda continues to volunteer her time to support the vision of healthy farms, healthy food. To date, FarmWorks has raised $4.6 million and has loaned over $8.2 M to over 150 food related businesses across Nova Scotia.
Sebastian Chow – Green Gardens Farm: Green Gardens is a small-scale, bio-intensive market garden that has grown vegetables and flowers since 2022. We look to limit our environmental impact by using low-impact, organic practices. Green Gardens caters to ingredient-driven chefs in Halifax, providing bespoke products to restaurants. During the growing season, we can also be found at the Halifax Brewery Market. https://www.greengardensfarm.ca/
Paul Hill – Maritime Foods/Hill’s Jamaican Jerk: Maritime Foods is a local food manufacturing company based in Halifax Nova Scotia. The company was established in 2021 by Paul Hill with the goal of working with Sobeys, independent groceries, Loblaws and the local farmers in Atlantic Canada to help reduce waste and create more local products. Paul has a vision to improve food security in Atlantic Canada, help build our agriculture industry and to give customers more local options. Paul is also the owner of Hill’s Jamaican Jerk which started in 2016 with his jerk sauce and has increased his Caribbean product line over the years with BBQ sauce, wing sauce and spices.
Webinar context: The world is changing at an unprecedented pace, leaving many individuals and communities with a sense of uncertainty, and in many cases, worry. How do we respond to this rapidly changing world? How do we strengthen our local agency and resilience, socially, economically, and ecologically? With newly imposed tariffs that threaten to worsen the financial realities within our communities, we want to shine a light on thriving examples of re-localization in our region! Re-localization is a concept and movement with an aim to become more self-reliant in our production and consumption (while reducing reliance on distant supply chains) in everything from energy, to food, to climate solutions, and beyond.
This series is held on the last Thursday of each month from 12-1pm Atlantic and will explore examples of re-localization across Atlantic Canada! Save the dates and join us 🙂