Reimagining the Food System on the Canadian Prairies - presented by Marla Carlson BA MSc + Paul Hanley
Paul Hanley has published six books and 1600 articles on the environment, sustainable development, agriculture, and other topics. He is editor and co-author of Earthcare: Ecological Agriculture in Saskatchewan (1980) and The Spirit of Agriculture (2005). He was environment columnist with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix from 1989 to 2016.
His book ELEVEN (2014) received the 2015 University of Saskatchewan President’s Award for Non-fiction and the 2015 ABS North America Award for Distinguished
Scholarship. Paul’s biography Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Conservationist (University of Regina Press 2018), features a foreword by HRH Prince Charles and introduction by Jane Goodall. Paul’s latest book is Richard St. Barbe Baker: Child of the Trees, part of the Change Maker series from Bellwood Press aimed at junior youth. Paul is a recipient of the Canadian Environment Award, the Meewasin Conservation Award, the Organic Connections Pioneer Organic Communicator Award, and the Saskatchewan Sustainability Award from the Regional Centre of Excellence for Education on Sustainable Development. In 2020, Paul is a recipient of the Food System 2050 Vision Prize from the Rockefeller Foundation for kwayēskastasowin wâhkôhtowin, a food system vision for the Canadian Prairies.
Marla Carlon, BA MSc
As the Executive Director, SaskOrganics Marla Carlson has worked in the organic sector in Saskatchewan since 2006 and has been an organic consumer longer than she wishes to admit! Her passion for organic food and farming has grown as my involvement in the sector has deepened. Marla has been working for SaskOrganics since 2014 and in the Executive Director role since February 2016. In her leadership role, she is always looking for innovative ways to fulfil the organization’s mission to cultivate a healthier world for the benefit of all through organic food and agriculture.
In addition to Marla’s role with SaskOrganics, she is President of Organic Connections – the largest organic farming conference in Western Canada and Co-President of IFOAM North America. She is a member of the kwayēskastasowin wâhkôhtowin Steering Committee, a Rockefeller Food Systems Top Visionary Prize Project and participated in the Food Systems Game Changers Lab’s Elevating Indigenous Knowledge Cohort. Most recently Marla has taken on a position with the Prairie Organic Development Fund managing the Canadian Organic Ingredient Strategy project.
