Elaine Mandrona leans on a rake in the community garden at the Peter McKee Community Centre.
Moncton, New Brunswick
Elaine Mandrona
Elaine has been a homesteader and has worked for years in the visual and healing arts. She is also a journalist who founded food focused ‘Moncton Beats’ online publication and ‘10,000 Barefoot Bees’ video project with her husband Archie.
“Food has always been in my sights as is the path to empowerment, joy, social change, and community building, especially when producing and sharing your own. I believe food connects us all. “
Six years ago, Elaine became a Community Food Mentor and has since been involved in several community food action projects funded by the NB government which include developing a program to teach gardening and art to children, making videos of local people with food based skills and knowledge, starting a permaculture program at a retreat centre and now, this year, working to establish a Life.School.House chapter at the Peter McKee Community Centre, Moncton’s food bank.
The Peter McKee Community Centre houses a community garden and a teaching kitchen and has a strong educational component. Eventually the Life.School.House project will branch out to hold workshops with other organizations focused on food security/sovereignty and Elaine envisions a network of Life.School.House chapters across the whole province of NB.
“We are living in a time of upheaval and uncertainty, but also unprecedented opportunity and we need flexible innovative grassroots solutions to help create a new world.”