Food as Medicine represents a transformative shift, from treating disease to promoting health, from reactive care to prevention, and from siloed systems to coordinated, community-based solutions. By integrating food into healthcare, we can improve patient outcomes, reduce chronic disease burden, and advance health equity.
This webinar aims to bring together partners across sectors to accelerate the Food as Medicine (FIM) movement in Canada. Together, we’ll explore the evidence, share success stories, and identify opportunities to build a connected ecosystem that can turn knowledge into action. Our collective message: Food as Medicine is a smart investment with transformative potential, one that requires collaboration across health, community, agriculture, and technology to truly scale its impact nationwide.
Presented by:
Corey Ellis, Co-Founder and CEO, Growcer & Freight Farms
For over a decade, Corey has been enabling communities to take control of their food supply—building resilient, localized farming systems as co-founder and CEO of Growcer. Since the strategic acquisition of Freight Farms, Corey now leads a combined network of more than 1,000 farms deployed across 30 countries, scaling a vision where fresh, nutritious food isn’t a privilege determined by geography, income, or climate. Corey works directly with hospitals, community organizations, and food-insecure neighbourhoods to deploy modular food solutions where they’re needed most. His approach addresses what clinicians see every day: that prescribing better nutrition means nothing if patients can’t access it. By embedding food production within the communities facing the greatest health disparities, Corey is building the missing link between food security and health equity.
Daiva E. Nielsen, Assistant Professor School of Human Nutrition, McGill University
Daiva completed her graduate work at the University of Toronto in the areas of nutrigenomics and personalized nutrition. She went on to conduct postdoctoral research in translation genomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, where she was involved in some of the first clinical trials aimed at evaluating the medical, behavioural and economic outcomes of incorporating genomic sequencing into medical practice. Dr. Nielsen’s training background has provided her with skills in dietary assessment, behaviour modification, genomics and knowledge translation. Her research goals include combining genomic and environmental exposure information together, including retail food exposures and sensory aspects of food, to better understand the complexities around human eating behaviour. She aims to apply her research findings to develop novel tailored intervention studies to promote healthful eating and ensure optimal knowledge translation to key players including food industry and health professionals.
Jennifer Reynolds, Co-Executive Director, Nourish
Jennifer has proven skills in collaborative leadership, strategy development, policy analysis, and strategic communications. She believes that aligning mission, mandate and margin can transform systems, and that delicious food will drive innovation in healthy eating and sustainability. She has worked with farmers, community organizations, institutions, and policy makers at Food Secure Canada, Select Nova Scotia (the Province of Nova Scotia’s Buy Local Campaign), and FoodShare Toronto. Jennifer has over 20 years of experience in sustainable agriculture, local food promotion, community food security, and food policy.
Kelly Bennett, Operations, Ciba Health
Kelly leads Ciba Health’s expansion into Canada, bringing over 20 years of experience as a Clinical Pharmacist across primary care, seniors living, and acute care settings. A certified diabetes educator with an MBA from the Alberta School of Business, Kelly has a proven track record of driving innovation across health systems. She is passionate about leveraging digital health to transform care delivery, prevent chronic disease, and enhance health outcomes for patients, providers, and health systems.
Earn One Continuing Education Unit (CEU) for attending this webinar.
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