News Release
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2015 Board Members
Isabelle Spence-Legault & Ryan Spence, Co-Chair
705-978-1664, [email protected]
Mitch Deschatelets, Vice Chair
705-477-4892, m[email protected]
Lynn Weller, Secretary
705-387-0908, [email protected]
Vicky Snell, Special Events Director
705-358-6449, [email protected]
Jim & Judy Merrick, Treasure
705-729-5714, [email protected]
Stephanie Booth, at large
705-384-9791, [email protected]
Joanna Boldt, at large
249-358-7777, [email protected]
Brenda Tota, at large
705-382-3561, [email protected]
Heather Cote, Market Manager
705-493-0613, [email protected]
Isabelle Spence-Legault, Co-Chair for the North Bay Farmers Market, Co-owner of Field Good Farms
Isabelle Spence-Legault is a francophone local food producer based out of West Nipissing, Ontario. She co-owns Field Good Farms in partnership with her husband Ryan Spence. She is also sits on the West Nipissing Agricultural Task Force, and is a committee member with the Northeastern Ontario New Farmer Network and the Ecological Farmers of Northeastern Ontario, a branch of the EFAO. Field Good Farms has been at the North Bay Farmers market since 2011, becoming a seasonal vendor in 2012.
Isabelle has experience in public speaking and has had the opportunity to present issues surrounding local food access in the northeast during the Northern Ontario Food Symposium held in Sudbury in 2011. She has also given presentations on composting to elementary school children and the Sturgeon Falls Master Gardeners as well as presentations to Living Fit from the Inside Out. More recently, Ryan and Isabelle did a presentation on Measuring Your Cost of Production to a group of students at the Sustainable Agriculture course at Fleming College and were part of a panel discussion during events held at Eat Local Sudbury during Organic Week.
She has helped with event organization for the North Bay Seed Exchange and Eco-Fair for three consecutive years, and a Farm to Fork Event in West Nipissing that, due to its success, is slated to become an annual event in the community.
She and Ryan have also written for the northern Ontario health magazine, Alive & Fit, on topics such as garden planning and small-scale animal husbandry.
Prior to launching Field Good Farms, Mrs. Spence-Legault spearheaded a collective garden project within two low-income housing complexes in Montreal. This project was successful and has been replicated in other areas within the province of Quebec. She also worked for the Institution of Population and Public Health where she helped to organize a Café Scientifique on Food Security in Calgary, Alberta in 2009. Isabelle has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Ottawa.
She has experience in the agriculture sector in Northeastern Ontario, having been raised on the family farm and having completed an agricultural internship in Lavigne. Her family has been actively involved in agriculture since their settlement in the area in the late 1800s.
Ryan Spence, Co-Chair for the North Bay Farmers Market, Co-owner of Field Good Farms
Ryan Spence is co-owner of Field Good Farms alongside Isabelle Spence-Legault. Field Good Farms was established in 2011 and has grown in size every year since.
Ryan and Isabelle were awarded with the Young Entrepreneur Award and were nominated for the Green Energy Award from the West Nipissing Chamber of Commerce in 2013, have received funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation both for their business launch in 2011 and for a tiling project in 2014, and are recipients of both a Carrot Cache grant and a S.N.A.P. grant from FedNor.
Prior to becoming a farmer and business owner Ryan worked in the Film and Television Industry in Montreal. Ryan learned important entrepreneurial skills including project management and network building for success. While in Montreal Ryan was the Chair of the Board for Cinema Politica. Ryan holds a B.F.A. Specialization in Film Studies and a Minor in Spanish from Concordia University.
Currently, Ryan sits on the Board of Directors for the Eat Local Sudbury Co-operative, is on the advisory committee for the Northeastern Ontario New Farmer Network, and is a part of the West Nipissing Agricultural Task Force.
