FREDERICTON, July 19, 2021- The Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick (AANB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Emilie McBride as its new Agriculture in the Classroom New Brunswick Coordinator, effective June 28, 2021.
“Emilie has been working with us a few weeks and has already demonstrated her impressive organizational skills and eagerness to learn. With her extensive background in both domestic and international agriculture education, she is a natural fit as coordinator of the New Brunswick’s Agriculture in the Classroom program. We are very fortunate to have Emilie join our team and together, we will work towards agricultural awareness to enrich today’s New Brunswick classrooms,” says Anna Belliveau, CEO of the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick.
Emilie obtained a Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. She had the privilege of spending three semesters abroad during her undergraduate degree, which included a three-month internship with a farming cooperative in Southern Ecuador. This experience and training lead Emilie to return to South America and pursue an executive role in the non-profit sector where she in part, worked closely with small-scale farmers.
Emilie has worked as a Farm Manager for one of New Brunswick’s largest organic mixed vegetable farms. She has most recently been a Farm Coordinator for a New Brunswick-based therapy farm that provides supports for adults with disabilities or mental health challenges.
“The farming population in New Brunswick has been declining for years and many existing farmers are approaching retirement. New Brunswick grows only 7% of the vegetables New Brunswickers consume. Our provincial food system is far from resilient and secure.
This makes agriculture in the classroom critical as a way to inspire our young people to understand where their food comes from, build awareness of our food system and to explore the vast diversity of career opportunities that agriculture has to offer.
I am looking forward to working with our Anglophone and Francophone educators and partners in exploring such a gratifying and important part of our community,” says Emilie McBride, newly appointed Agriculture in the Classroom Coordinator for the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick.
The Agricultural Alliance is New Brunswick’s largest general farm organization, promoting the social and economic interests of all NB farmers. Contact:
– Anna Belliveau, AANB CEO
(506) 452-8101
www.fermenbfarm.ca