Nihad Alfulaij (Finance Assistant)
Nihad Alfulaij joined Sustain in March 2009 as finance assistant. After finishing her degree in Latin American studies she went on to work in the charity sector. Her career in charity finance developed whilst working in Mencap’s fundraising department for four years. She then went on to work in a delicatessen/café in south London where she was in charge of the kitchen and sourcing local produce for the shop. At that time she also helped to set up a farmers' market in the local area, which she ran for the next 12 months. She then returned to the charity/public sector where she resumed her career in charity finance, initially as finance manager in a Green Start nursery and more recently in a local secondary school. She has also dedicated time to small-scale catering and has a real passion for cooking.
Alison Belshaw (Food Co-ops regional advisor, South West)
For two years, Alison co-ordinated the Eat Somerset project for Sustain linking local food producers with new retail markets, resulting in successes including introducing a range of local food with the Co-op in Radstock, Somerset and eight convenience stores. Over the past five years, Alison has also worked freelance on projects for the National Trust (sustainable food training for Trust staff) and the Plunkett Foundation as a Local Food Adviser for Village and Community shops. Other work has been for local councils and food partnerships include organising a local food and drink festival in South Gloucestershire, carrying out research on food producers and initiatives in the Bath & North East Somerset and North Somerset areas, plus research on allotment availability and demand. Prior to this, Alison worked for local authorities coordinating and developing partnerships with organisations and local communities to help resolve problems and improve local areas. She also worked in local government on waste minimisation, recycling and environmental issues. Alison studied for her degree in Humanities in Bristol. For Sustain, Alison advises people and organisations in the South West region who are interested in setting up food co-ops.
Maresa Bossano (Making Local Food Work - Food Co-ops and Buying Groups)
Maresa Bossano runs the Food Co-ops and Buying Groups strand of the Making Local Food Work programme. Previously, she worked as Five a Day co-ordinator for Hastings and Rother primary care trust for five years, which included setting up and supporting a wide range of community food initiatives, including Hastings farmers' market, the Community Fruit & Veg Project, cookery groups, healthy lifestyle courses, food growing schemes, school food initiatives, and lots more. She was also seconded to the Food Vision project for a year and helped to develop the Food Vision website with case studies and guidance on initiatives to promote safe, sustainable and nutritious food. Prior to this she worked in fundraising and marketing for the League Against Cruel Sports and the Vegan Society. She did a degree in Environmental Science and Masters in Environment, Development and Policy, and also ran a small vegan organic cake business and worked in several vegetarian restaurants whilst at university. In her spare time she is chair of Hastings Environment Network and enjoys attempting to grow her own vegetables on her allotment.
Debbie Clarke (Food Co-ops regional advisor, North West)
Debbie has worked at one of the UK's biggest independent wholefood shops, Unicorn Grocery Workers Co-operative in Manchester, for the past 7 years. There she works at all levels of the business but specialises in education & marketing, communicating information about food, trade and the environment to customers and the wider public. She helps run an urban fruit and veg harvesting project called Abundance Manchester that distributes fresh produce that would otherwise be wasted to organisations that can use it, and with Abundance also helps manage a local community orchard. She has been active in several campaigns against new supermarket developments and founded the community group Keep Chorlton Interesting. In her time as a student she helped run Leeds University Green Action Food Co-op. For Sustain, Debbie advises people and organisations in the North West region who are interested in setting up food co-ops.
Ross Compton (London Food Co-ops regional advisor and Networks Administrator for London Food Link and Local Action on Food)
Ross’s time is split between two roles with Sustain; he works as an advisor on London Food Co-ops and also works on both the London Food Link and Local Action on Food networks. Before joining Sustain in 2011 he worked at Church Farm Ardeley, a farm championing an agro-ecological approach to farming. There Ross worked to develop a membership structure for the farm and established various ‘Farm Clubs’ in the North London area. Previously he has been an intern with the World Development Movement and the online campaigning group 38 Degrees. Ross enjoys growing his own food on his allotment and has a sourdough starter called Tony.
Kath Dalmeny (Policy Director)
Kath Dalmeny is Policy Director of Sustain. Her background is as a food campaigner and consultant to organisations such as the Food Commission, National Consumer Council, National Federation of Women’s Institutes, Food Climate Research Network and the London Development Agency. She has a special interest in food, sustainability and climate change – especially how local food systems can help create resilient local economies that reduce their impact on the environment. She is also interested in how the benefits of healthier food can be enjoyed more equitably by people living on a low income. In 2009, she became a member of the Food Advisory Group to the London Organising Committee of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and was recently appointed as a member of the London Food Board Executive. On a voluntary basis, Kath is a trustee of a community-run box scheme and farmers' market that is launching an exciting new start-up support programme (Growing Communities); and a food consultancy that helps individuals and organisations working towards more sustainable, equitable food systems (Food Matters). Kath has a Masters in Food Policy from the Centre for Food Policy.
Eloise Dey (Capital Growth)
During her MA in the Anthropology of Food at SOAS, Eloise specialised in the relationship between man and global food chains, focusing on the cultural reproduction of childhood obesity in the UK. Since completing her Masters she has worked on a range of projects focused on food sustainability in urban contexts. She has worked from launch on Sustain's Capital Growth project, which aims to convert 2,012 spaces in London into community food growing areas by the end of 2012. Alongside this she worked with the food waste specialist Tristram Stuart feeding 5,000 members of the public in Trafalgar Square on food that would otherwise have been wasted. Following the success of Feeding the 5,000, Eloise became one of the founding members of A Taste of Freedom and is currently working on interactive educational events to raise awareness and tackle the issues of surplus food.
Gav Dupee (IT/Design)
Gav Dupee creates print media including a number of magazines, and designs and develops web applications for a number of charities, research groups, companies and private individuals. In addition he designs courses and lectures in web and graphical design, and has a degree in Environmental Science.
Ida Fabrizio (Capital Growth)
Ida has been working on Capital Growth since the spring of 2009, leading on an award winning display at the RHS Hampton Court show, and providing support and advice for Capital Growth spaces. Whilst working on Capital Growth she also did an apprenticeship with Growing Communities in Hackney to learn how to manage an organic market garden, and grow organic salads for their box scheme. From this she is developing a new microsite for them at the Castle Climbing Centre, where she is also co-ordinating a new garden project. Prior to this she ran the orchards project at Sustain from 2006, working with groups across England and produced a publication. She also helped to manage Alimenterra, a European network of organisations with similar aims to Sustain. She started volunteering at Sustain in September 2005 working with London Food Link on research and event organisation for the Mayor's London Food Strategy, and interviewing restaurant owners for the Sustainable Restaurants project. During this time she has also worked on two Food Commission reports on supermarkets. Ida has always had a strong interest in food, given her Italian rural background. Her passion for the thriving food culture and local distinctiveness in Italy has encouraged her to promote a similar attitude here in the UK. Ida has recorded radio pieces for BBC Radio 4's Food Programme, one looking at tomato passata-making in her family village in Italy, and the other hunting truffles in Tuscany.
Lizzie Fellows (Food Co-op regional advisor, Yorkshire & Humber)
Lizzie graduated from Leeds University in 2007 with a degree in Philosophy, and although from a farming background, it was during her time as a student that her interest in food and the environment really developed. Lizzie was involved with a student food co-op at university and was an active campaigner on various sustainability issues. She is particularly interested in the links between climate change and food. After graduating, Lizzie worked in Leeds University Union as Welfare Officer, during which time she developed projects to encourage students to eat more healthy, sustainable foods. Lizzie spent some time volunteering on organic farms in France before beginning work with Campaign to Protect Rural England as a Regional Coordinator on the Mapping Local Food Webs project, another strand within the Making Local Food Work programme. As well as working for Sustain, Lizzie is doing a permaculture course and is involved in various environmental campaigns and projects in Leeds. For Sustain, Lizzie advises people and organisations in the Yorkshire & Humber region who are interested in setting up food co-ops.
Catherine Fookes (Organic food and farming)
Catherine Fookes is a freelance writer, researcher and campaigner on food, farming & environmental issues. She undertakes work for Sustain on organic food and farming issues having previously been Co-ordinator of the Organic Targets Bill Campaign for Sustain. In 2008, she wrote a major report into nursery school food in England and Wales for Organix and the Soil Association as well as organising the Abergavenny Food Festival's Children's Food Academy. She was also a Government adviser on organic farming standards, sitting as a consumer member on Defra's "Advisory Committee on Organic Standards" (ACOS) and works as a consultant on various projects.
Kirstin Glendinning (Food Co-op regional advisor, North East)
Kirstin Glendinning is Food Co-op regional advisor for the North East region. She also works with the Soil Association to promote Community Supported Agriculture and has a background in farming.
Paola Guzman (Capital Growth)
Paola has been a project officer for Capital Growth since October 2009 where she coordinates new applications, current Capital Growth spaces and volunteers. Paola worked in the architectural field from 2006 to 2008, and commenced her masters at UCL in 2007. While studying Urban Design at the Bartlett School of Architecture (part of UCL) she became interested in food and its relationship to the city. In her final project she explored the idea of making London more sustainable by growing food locally. This project led her to volunteer in Sustain for the Capital Growth Campaign in February 2009, where she helped with providing member support and processing applications to become new Capital Growth spaces. She participated in several events such as the Hampton Court Flower Show and helped coordinate the Capital Growth market stalls at feast on the Bridge and Covent Garden Market.
Kawther Hashem (Children's Food Campaign)
Kawther studied Nutrition at King’s College London. She is a registered Associate Nutritionist. Following graduation she worked as a Research Assistant in a Nutrition Team at University. She later joined food industry and worked for Unilever as a nutritionist and her work there focused on nutrition communication. In March 2011 she joined the Children’s Food Campaign at Sustain. She has a strong interest in children’s health and nutrition, and her final year project on her Public Health Nutrition degree at university focused on the consumption of fruit and vegetable amongst children in the UK, entitled "Success and failure of interventions to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables amongst children in the UK". She also has a passion for food and promoting healthy diet and lifestyle. In her spare time she volunteers with the British Heart Foundation.
Melissa Halyes (Food Legacy, inspired by the London 2012 Food Vision)
Melissa Hayles is co-ordinator of the Food Legacy project aiming to create a healthy and sustainable food legacy from the London 2012 Games. Melissa began her career in marketing working for scientific publishers Elsevier and Nature before moving into events including the Real Food Festival and Organic Food Festival. She joined Sustain in January 2012.
Clare Horrell (Making Local Food Work - Food Distribution and Supply)
Clare Horrell runs the Food Distribution and Supply strand of the Making Local Food Work programme. After studying biology at university, Clare spent the next 12 years in banking, before owning and running a restaurant. She subsequently organised catering for events at the Royal National Theatre and then joined Friends of the Earth where she worked with the English regional campaigners on national and local environmental issues. She was part of the management team of the Crypt fairtrade café in Islington and is a volunteer at Growing Communities, a social enterprise which grows and distributes organic produce in Hackney.
Alex Jackson (Good Food for Our Money campaign)
Alex works for Sustain as a project officer on the ‘Public Money for Public Good’ campaign, which is focused on the procurement of sustainable food in the public sector. Before joining Sustain, Alex worked as a lead campaigner on a number of projects in the skills sector – establishing a network of ‘skills academies’ for people who are unemployed and from disadvantaged backgrounds. Alex is a passionate supporter of local, seasonal and resilient food chains and how they can contribute to tackling climate change. Alex is also a local political activist in south London, where he has campaigned to demonstrate the link between sustainable food and healthy and vibrant communities.
Becky Joynt (Design and Online Communications Officer)
Becky joined Sustain in March 2009. She helps develop the Sustain website and designs materials for print. Becky has worked in the environmental charity sector since 2002, initally on the Good Beach Guide for the Marine Conservation Society and then on rural policy for the Campaign to Protect Rural England. More recently she was the IT and publishing manager for Pesticide Action Network UK before becoming freelance in 2007. In addition to her work with Sustain Becky also works for Pesticide Action Network Europe.
Jeanette Longfield MBE (Co-ordinator)
Jeanette Longfield's degree in International Relations and a Masters in Development Studies led to work as a Policy Analyst at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. After five years she moved onto campaigning at the Coronary Prevention Group. Four years on she became Co-ordinator of the National Food Alliance, alongside undertaking consultancy work for other health-related organisations. As Sustain's Co-ordinator, Jeanette liaises with the Food Standards Agency, contributes to a number of food policy committees, and appears regularly in the media representing a public interest view on food policy issues. She was awarded an MBE for services to food policy in the 2007 New Year Honours.
Louise Maxwell Symington (Good Food on the Public Plate)
Louise joined Sustain as Good Food on Public Plate Project officer in August 2011. She is a qualified Dietitian with 10 years of experience in the NHS, private health sector and food industry. Louise is very interested in links between the industrialisation of the western diet and its impact on both public health and on the wider ecology. In 2010, Louise graduated with a Masters in Sustainability in the Food Industry. Since graduating, Louise has worked for the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s research team investigating the economic, environmental and social benefits of local food systems. She has also volunteered for a community interest group, helping to run its annual Colne Valley Local Food Festival.
Seb Mayfield (Capital Growth)
Seb Mayfield joined Sustain in 2008 to help develop Sustain's Capital Growth campaign for 2,012 new food growing spaces for London by 2012. He now works with the Capital Growth team to help transform London's food growing. Seb is a leading advocate of urban food growing, having co-founded with Kate Swatridge the innovative Food Up Front campaign, which Seb which continues to operate in South London. Food Up Front supports people to grow food in their unused outdoor space. Whether it’s front gardens, balconies, windowsills or back gardens all their members are given the opportunity to grow and share healthy, natural food. Seb also came up with the idea of One Pot Pledge. As a result, Food Up Front is now working with Garden Organic, who are running this as their 2010-2011 national campaign.
Suzanne Natelson (Making Local Food Work for London)
Suzanne Natelson works with London partners in the Making Local Food Work project for three days a week, and the rest of her brain space is used in studying for an MSc in Social and Political Theory at Birkbeck College. Since completing her first degree in archaeology, she lived for a year in Australia where she experienced the outback as a cook on a cattle station and as a cherry picker. Suzanne then moved to Belgium for 3 years and worked at WWF European Policy Office on a campaign for an EU regulation on chemicals during which time she coordinated various campaign initiatives including biomonitoring families and Environment ministers. Before joining Sustain she coordinated a project at Consumers International on competition policy with 14 consumer organisations in Europe.
Pete Norton (Food Co-ops Regional Adviser, West Midlands)
Pete is a freelance consultant, campaigner and writer on food and sustainable development. Based in Herefordshire he manages the food programme for the Bulmer Foundation (http://www.bulmerfoundation.org.uk/); established the Herefordshire Food Links Network (http://www.herefordshirefoodlinks.org.uk/); chairs the county’s Food and Drink Working Group and is leading the development of a Sustainable Food Strategy for Herefordshire. Three years in local government gave him a good insight in to the public sector, and he has worked on developing effective local food systems including school food and wider public procurement initiatives. He is a member of the Duchy of Cornwall Local Food Partnership and an adviser to the Big Lottery funded Local Food Fund. Brought up on an organic smallholding Pete worked on organic farms and market gardens before starting an organic food distribution business in the late 198’s, believing then and now that the way our food is grown, how it gets to us, and to what extent we connect with it is fundamental to our long-term health and well-being and that of the planet we live on. For Sustain, Pete advises people and organisations in the West Midlands region who are interested in setting up food co-ops.
Duncan O'Brien (Ethical Eats)
Edinburgh-born Duncan joined the Ethical Eats team in August 2011. He met Sustain at seafood sustainability events and London Food Link while working at Tsuru Sushi as a chef and business development manager. He is increasingly interested in food sustainability policy and creating sustainable food systems.Following a degree in Anthropology at LSE Duncan worked as a chef in Scotland and in the Caribbean for The Orient Express Hotels Company. Last year Duncan helped set up the food waste reduction project The People's Kitchen with friend and Founder Steve Wilson. He also chefs for The Koyaanisqatsi Trusts charity events, and occasionally with food designers/artists Blanch & Shock.
Sara Osman (Food Co-ops Regional Advisor, South East)
Sara Osman worked in both private practice and at the Champneys Health Spa as a nutritionist before setting up her own business to help schools teach children about healthy eating and cooking. She then worked for the Food For Life Partnership as South East Coordinator, helping schools to get pupils growing and cooking food, visiting farms and learning about where their food comes from. Through this project, and other work with the Soil Association, Sara has been involved with encouraging sustainable food for school meals, hospitals and for the London 2012 Olympics. Sara's passion is encouraging people to enjoy a healthy, seasonal diet, and connecting people to local farmers and producers. For Sustain, Sara advises people and organisations in the South East region who are interested in setting up food co-ops.
Kelly Parsons (Ethical Eats)
As well as working on Ethical Eats, Kelly is also the Deputy Editor of the Jellied Eel, London Food Link’s magazine about ethical eating in the capital. She previously worked on both the Making Local Food Work and Local Action on Food projects, having joined Sustain in April 2010. An experienced writer, editor and researcher specialising in food law, policy and sustainability, Kelly began her career in public relations before moving into journalism, and was editor of a European law and policy magazine for five years. Kelly has a degree in Sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and recently completed a Masters in Food and Nutrition Policy from the Centre for Food Policy at City University.
Charlie Powell (Campaigns Director)
Charlie Powell is Campaign’s Director of Sustain. Charlie first worked for Sustain in 2001 as Food Labelling and Marketing Project Officer and then as the Children’s Food Bill Campaign Co-ordinator. Prior to his appointment as Campaign's Director, he spent four and a half years working for Oxfam GB, firstly on its Make Trade Fair Campaign and then co-ordinating Oxfam International’s public campaigning on climate change. He has also worked for other NGOs as well as in the private sector, has a Masters Degree in Human Nutrition and is a director for ethical food consultancy Food Matters.
Ben 
Reynolds (Network Director)
As part of his role he coordinates London Food Link, a programme to develop a sustainable, local food system for London. Ben has been working at Sustain since 2004. In 2005/06 Ben and his team successfully ran the consultation on the Mayor’s London Food Strategy. He has also worked with different organisations to get more sustainable food into London’s public and private sector establishments. More recently, Ben came up with the idea for the Capital Growth project, supported by the Mayor of London, to create 2,012 food growing spaces in London by 2012. Ben has helped to establish and edits the free ethical food magazine The Jellied Eel, which has a distribution of 20,000 copies in London.
Gemma Sayers (Food Co-ops regional advisor, East of England)
Gemma Sayers has worked on various organic farms in Suffolk growing vegetables, and on a project to breed a robust organic wheat population at Elm Farm Research Centre. When she was 20 she helped found the Ipswich Ripple Food Co-operative which operates as a public market, and remained secretary of the organisation for three years (http://www.ipswichfoodcoop.co.uk/). She is a member of a housing co-operative looking to buy a property in Ipswich, in which to live communally, and this is a member of the Radical Routes network (http://www.radicalroutes.org.uk/). For years she volunteered at an independent community advice centre, out of a need to connect with her fellow residents. Currently she plans to create Transition Town Ipswich, along with many others. For Sustain, Gemma advises people and organisations in the East of England region who are interested in setting up food co-ops.
Mikey Tomkins (Capital Bee)
Mikey Tomkins is the Capital Bee officer at Sustain, in charge of the training programme for 50 new community beekeepers in the capital, as well as the campaign to help London's bee population. Previously Mikey completed a fine art degree before spending many years directing and editing music videos and documentaries. In 2006 he completed an MSc in architecture, environment and advanced energy studies, completing his thesis on a study of the potential for urban agriculture in a central London test site. In 2007 he started a PhD at the University of Brighton, continuing his research into food growing in cities with a year-long study of community food growing on London housing estates. He is a London beekeeper, and looks after the bees on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall, as well as an apiary in London Fields.
Quoc-anh Tran (Finance Officer)
Following graduation with a degree in Accounting and Business Information Technology, Quoc-anh Tran joined Sustain in February 2002. He has five years experience in the accounting sector and is a Part Qualified Accountant through the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Quoc-anh has worked with a number of charities and is now specialising in charity accounting. As Sustain's Finance Officer, Quoc-anh prepares management accounts and budgets as well as undertaking vital administration, including publication sales and subscriptions for Sustain.
Jon Walker (Good Food on the Public Plate)
Jon Walker joined Sustain in November 2008, working three days a week as a member of the Good Food on the Public Plate team, which is aiming to increase the amount of sustainable food bought by public procurement in London. When not at Sustain Jon does voluntary conservation work with Epping Forest Centenary Trust and enjoys family life. He was previously employed for 13 years at Tate & Lyle Sugars as a national account manager working in contract catering, foodservice, wholesale and retail sectors.
Sarah Williams (Capital Growth)
Sarah Williams joined the Capital Growth team at Sustain in 2009, and along with the team will be supporting Londoners to set up 2,012 food growing spaces by the end of 2012. Sarah’s previous roles have included support and development of various community groups and projects in London, particularly at Groundwork East London where she was involved in a range of environmental regeneration projects activities. Most recently Sarah was the Strategic Manager of the Newham Food Access Partnership, where for four years she coordinated the partnership to implement a Food and Nutrition Strategic Plan, which included influencing local decision-making, developing food projects and setting up local networks. Sarah has a Masters in Leadership for Sustainable Development, achieved through the Forum for the Future’s Masters Programme, which involved a variety of interesting work placements including Friends of the Earth, The Cabinet Office, BBC Wildlife magazine and B&Q Head Office.
Chris Young (Real Bread Campaign)
Chris Young is Project Officer for the Real Bread Campaign. A self-confessed foodie, he sees the role as the perfect way to match his experience in communication, belief in the right to better food for all and interests as a keen homebaker. Prior to joining the Real Bread Campaign, Chris was in food and drink PR, working on accounts including an anti-hunger charity, a local food directory and whole range of independent pubs and restaurants.
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