York Region Youth Food Committee

Morgan Sage

Co-Chair and Co-Founder

Morgan was drawn to her role at York Region Food Network by her deep-rooted passion for both community and food that stems from seeing time and time again how food can be used to celebrate and connect people. 
As a Food Policy Coordinator, she manages the York Region Food Council and their projects, which range from advocating for food security to conducting community research. She also helped co-found the York Region Youth Food Committee, a working group of the Food Council, to empower youth aged 18-30 in York Region to advocate, educate, and act on food issues. 
When not at work she can be found spending time with friends and family, playing board games, curling up with a good book, or finding new ways to move – hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, snowshoeing, dancing, you name it! 

Katie Konstantopoulos

Katie (they/she) is a community-oriented land use planner and food systems researcher working out of King Township. They see land use planning as inseparable from the problems that the food system is currently facing, using their work with the Youth Food Committee as a way to inspire collaborative food systems transformation. As a neuroqueer, non-binary, White settler with Balkan ancestry, they are mobilizing for equitable rural/agricultural communities, sustainable heritage design, spatial/mobility justice, and the role of planners as treaty people.

Katrina Streef

Katrina believes that healthy, accessible, and affordable food is a fundamental human right. She spent two summers as an Urban Agriculture student working in the Newmarket community gardens at YRFN, which sparked her passion for food justice. She is currently studying for her MSc in Public Health and is interested in the intersection of food with public health. In her spare time, you can find her hanging out at the park, reading a good book, or taking care of her garden.

Samantha Santoro

Samantha Santoro (she/her) has extensive experience working in research in healthcare, environmental, economic, and social justice contexts. She has an interest in all work that contributes to the building of new worlds centred around, in the words of Robyn Maynard, “the multivalent needs of those who least have access to a livable life.” She is a Policy Officer at the ASE Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities working to dismantle anti-Black racism and ableism, and she also actively volunteers with organizations that work in the areas of social, environmental, and/or racial justice to construct a more equitable, habitable future.

Sidney Shaw

Sidney (they/them) is a second year student at the University of British Columbia, specializing in sustainable agriculture. Originally from Markham, ON, they are passionate about reclaiming urban space to grow food. As well as volunteering with YRFN Youth Council, they’ve been involved with 4H Dairy Club, their school’s hydroponic design team and have worked on a seaweed farming project in the maritimes last summer. Some of their nonfood related interests include fixing bikes, watching movies and writing.

Sarah O’Neill

I’m Sarah O’Neill, a second-year student at the University of Guelph-Humber for Community Social Services. As a committee member and gardener, I’m passionate about the individual and community connection we make with food! In addition, I’m interested in learning about food insecurity issues and studying community involvement, policy-making, and advocacy solutions. The Youth Food Committee has provided an enriching educational experience, encouraging me to constantly get involved in solving food issues, including urban sprawl, food inclusivity, and accessibility!

Sophia Srebot  

Sophie is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, having completed her undergraduate studies in nutritional sciences. During her studies, she became interested in food issues beyond individualistic human nutrition (or rather, issues she felt were overlooked in the nutritional sciences) such as food security, sovereignty, and justice as integral to community health. She has research experience in foodnutrition policy and campus food-growing spaces, loves to garden, and always strives to further understand the intersectionality of food issues in York Region.