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Investment Agriculture Foundation Announces New Executive

July 3, 2012  By Investment Agriculture Foundation


Jul. 3, 2012, Victoria, BC – The Investment Agriculture Foundation of B.C. (IAF) announced the appointment of its executive committee with Peter Levelton as chair, Gay Hahn as vice chair, Jim Tingle as treasurer and Paula Brown as secretary.
 
About The Executive Committee
 
Peter Levelton joined the IAF board in 2007, representing the greenhouse, floriculture and nursery sectors. After serving as secretary, treasurer and vice-chair, Levelton is currently the Foundation’s chair. Since 1987, Levelton and his wife Jane have owned and operated East Richmond Nurseries, now a leading supplier to landscapers, garden centres and wholesale nurseries throughout B.C. and the Pacific Northwest. Before joining the IAF board, Peter spent six years as president and vice-president of the B.C. Landscape and Nursery Association. He has also served on the executives of the Kinsmen Club of Richmond and the Richmond Youth Soccer organization. Peter understands first hand the need to keep farming current within an evolving global market.   
 
Gay Hahn joined the IAF board in 2007 as a representative for the post-farm gate sector, serving as secretary since 2009. Born and raised in Vancouver, she began working for Avalon Dairy in 1980, working her way up to CEO of Avalon Dairy and Valley Pride. She is a founding member and a past chair of the B.C. Food Processors Association, has served as chair  for the B.C. Dairy Foundation, B.C. Dairy Council, and Specialty Product Advisory Committee, and is currently a director for the Certified Organic Associations of B.C. Hahn has developed one of the largest annual community dairy celebrations, Avalon Dairies Community Days, and won several community service and marketing awards, including the Barichello Award and Farm Credit Canada’s Rosemary Davis Award. Serving tirelessly to improve the industry, Gay also chairs the National Food Processing Human Resources Sector Council initiative to define the human resources and training needs of the agri-foods processing sector.
 
Jim Tingle has represented community agriculture on the IAF board since 2009, and co-owns and operates Glenbirnam Farm with wife Roma, marketing Black Angus cattle and market lamb. An experienced professional agrologist, Jim possesses a broad knowledge of the agri-food industry in B.C., specializing in the forage and beef sectors. Jim has served as a consultant to the Cattle Industry Development Council and provided on-farm forage management recommendations in the North-Central Interior. He is a member of the Prince George Cattlemen’s Association, the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, the B.C. Angus Association, the Eaglet Lake Farmers Institute, the B.C. Sheep Federation, and the B.C. Institute of Agrologists (BCIA). In 1999, Jim was named BCIA Agrologist of the Year.
 
Paula Brown joined IAF’s board as a representative of the agriculture and agri-food industry’s emerging sectors in 2009. Dr. Brown has supported the natural health and food industry for more than a decade by conducting applied research on product quality, safety and efficacy, and currently works as the Director of the Natural Health & Food Products Research Group at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She is also the “Quality Focus” Columnist for Nutraceuticals World and is a widely published and active presenter at conferences across North America. In 2011, Dr. Brown received the Richard E. Schultes Award from the Society for Economic Botany, and is now serving on the American Botanical Council Advisory Committee, the Natural Health Products Program Advisory Committee for Health Canada, and chairs NSF’s Joint Committee for Dietary Supplements.
 
Jens Larsen, who is the board’s longest serving member, sat on the board from 2002-2008, and then returned in 2009. Jens served as treasurer from 2011-2012, and will continue to serve actively as a director.
 
“We are thankful to Jens for his service on the executive committee and look forward to his continued contributions as the board’s representative for other livestock,” said Peter Levelton.
 
The executive committee is appointed by the board of directors. Working closely with the executive committee and the board and representing IAF’s funding partners are: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Liaison Officers, Philip Bergen and Michelle Soucie, andGrant Parnell, the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic Industry Partnerships Division of the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture.
 
IAF is an industry-led, not-for-profit corporation that strategically invests federal and provincial funds in support of projects that benefit the agriculture and agri-food industry in B.C. To learn more about the Investment Agriculture Foundation and the funding programs it administers, visit www.iafbc.ca.


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