We’re very proud to share the news that Serena Caner, our past president and executive director, AND local food champion is being recognized for her efforts in Building Community Around Local Food!
Serena is a Do-er. She sees a problem, she comes up with an idea and she makes it happen. She is very aware of the concerns in the community and her passion for good food for everyone drives her work.
Downtown Salmon Arm Farmers Market
Coming from the coast, Serena loved going to Farmers Markets and after moving to Salmon Arm, when she saw that there wasn’t a thriving market here in the City, she took the challenge to bring a market back to the downtown of Salmon Arm. Working with others, like Downtown Salmon Arm and City of Salmon Arm, Serena connected with and inspired local farmers to come back home, to our own City, instead of going to other markets. It grew each year, got through covid times and is now a year-round, thriving market, remaining under the Shuswap Food Action programs, and home to many local farmers and artisans!
School Meal Programs
As a registered Dietitian, Serena was quite dismayed at the food choices for seniors in care and also for youth in schools. Through her own initiative, she did a study on food options in Shuswap schools and became determined to see better, more nutritious options for students. It started with Foodie Fridays at Jackson High School once per week to the now 3 schools, with in-house cooks, serving hearty, locally-sourced meals multiple days per week.
She then set her sights to a Local Soup pilot program, creating soup for schools from local ingredients. Serena saw the potential — the larger vision of it — and created it, knowing that the government would need to create a school meal fund and last year that happened. Provincial and Federal funding now assists in the thriving Souper Meals program which for THIS school year alone, has served just shy of 70,000 meals to students and community members.
Shuswap Family Boxes
When Covid hit and schools, community kitchens and churches got shut down, Serena knew that there would be families who counted on those meals in schools. Working with SD83 and the Indigenous Fund, they secured funding to provide high quality, local food to 50 at-risk households and 5 years later, that program still operates, providing not only incredible food to families in need but ALSO in supporting local farmers through a reliable and consistent source of income.
While we miss having Serena as part of the day-to-day for Shuswap Food Action, she is still very much a part of it and we all work together to continue this work. Her opportunity to shift to the School District No. 83 and manage the Feeding Futures Fund is allowing her to take action on the larger vision needed.
Serena created the vision — took action — and then passed the reins to our new part-time Executive Director, Liz Blakeway who is also the Executive Director for Land to Table Network Society and she carries us into an even stronger future. The school meal programs and Souper Meals Program are now under the leadership of Mary Rodriguez who is taking these programs to new heights, supported by 10 staff and many volunteers.
As Executive Director, Serena played a pivotal role in developing the Shuswap Food Action Society Vision statement and Mission Statement.
“We believe everybody has the right to an affordable, safe and nutritious diet.”
“A strong local food system means residents benefit from the availability of safe, nutritious food, while producers benefit from the increased revenue and the community benefits from more money remaining in our local market place.”
What is our mission? Building Community Around Local Food.
We thank Serena for everything she has done and continues to do to bring this mission to life. Congratulations for your award Serena!
The 2025 Community Award ceremony will be aired on TELUS’ Optik TV Channel 707 – Community Connections – after May 7th.
Well done Serena! Love working with you!