Farms at Work Board of Directors
Josh Arias (Vice-Chair) is a Management Consultant for Serecon, providing technical and professional advisory services to a wide variety of facets of agriculture and environmental science. He is a Professional Agrologist (P.Ag) with a Masters Degree in Environmental Science from the Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph and a Registered Microbiologist with the Canadian College of Microbiologists. Josh has significant experience and passion for renewable energy and GHG emissions reduction. His wife comes from a six-generation beef farm based near Peterborough.
Trevor Johnson grew up in the Niagara region, immersed in its communities and culture of fruit and farms, gardens and dairies. He was surrounded by people who worked with their hands, cared for land and valued their neighbors and the food they grew. He owned a farm for many years in Grey County, and has had a varied career: in earlier years working on many farms, and then as a teacher and business owner. He is a welder and the owner of Gate Fence & Rail, a local fencing and welding business. Trevor studied Agriculture at the University of Guelph and is an environmental advocate, critical thinker and dedicated community member. He lives with his family in Indian River outside of Peterborough.
Pat Learmonth (Secretary/Treasurer) joined the new Board of Directors after serving as Project Director of Farms at Work for twelve years prior to its incorporation. She was the Environmental Farm Plan Representative and Workshop Leader for Peterborough County for seven years and co-founded the East Central Farm Stewardship Collaborative. She is past Chair of the Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development Agricultural Advisory Committee, and past Co-Chair of the Peterborough Alliance for Food and Farming and the Peterborough Agricultural Roundtable. Pat and her husband own a farm near Peterborough.
Josh Noiseux is passionate about helping people understand regenerative farming: a collection of approaches that integrate food production, sustainable land management, and conservation in mutually supportive ways. He has lived this out as a founder of Evermeadow Farm with his family in Cold Springs ON in Northumberland County, and wants to actively work with other farmers to demonstrate and promote these practices. Josh shares his knowledge at the community level via conferences and writing, and has taught about the intersections between ecology, politics and regenerative food systems at the University level at Queens and Trent Universities. He holds an MA in Cultural and Political Theory from Trent.
Natasha Sheward (Chair) was the Coordinator of the Trent Vegetable Gardens (TVG), a Peterborough-based, field-to-table, non-profit farm. The TVG aims to bolster food sovereignty in Peterborough by providing food by donation, managing community garden plots, and hosting experiential learning opportunities for both students and community members. She is a supporting member of the Trent Student Seed Savers, and was previously the Program Coordinator for Net Zero Farms, a pilot project of Green Economy Peterborough designed to support local farms and agribusiness’ in tracking and reducing GHG emissions. Natasha holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Toronto Metropolitan University specializing in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from Trent University.