Lily Mintz-Kungle - Vice-Chair

NS

Lily Mintz-Kungl grew up in Bramber Nova Scotia on her family's organic vegetable farm, Selwood Green. From a young age she had an affinity for growing plants and being in nature, she loved to help the farm crew whenever possible. Since 2018 she has been working full time on the family farm and has plans to take over the business very soon!  Lily has one year of carpentry school under her belt and wants to travel Canada and Northern America to gain more farming experience in the next few years.

Lily is passionate about bringing a sense of community to her farm and wants to open her doors to other farming families to come live on the land and farm alongside her, making the farm a hub for education and community.

Lily says "I never want to stop learning. Everyday there is something new to learn about organic agriculture, I want to be right there watching it unfold."

Emily Bland

NL

Emily Bland is a social entrepreneur with an agricultural heart. She is a 3rd generation farmer from Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador and is the current Seed-EO of SucSeed; a hydroponic social enterprise that is on a mission to help the world grow.  SucSeed has gardens in over 1,000 schools educating over 25,000 students every year, over 2,000 homes and over 200 community groups across Canada.  Previous to this she completed the Commerce program at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. While pursuing her degree she was a part of the Enactus Memorial Team. Under her leadership as president the team beat out 1,700 teams around the world to win the World Cup.  In 2021, SucSeed became the first B Corp in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Emily has a passion for social enterprise development she was a founding board member of the Centre for Social Enterprise at MUN, currently sits on the board of the Memorial Center for Entrepreneurship and the Empowering Indigenous Women’s Organization. She has been mentoring start up entrepreneurs since 2015 and has collectively helped fundraise over 2.5 M in funding.

Elita Rahn

NB

Elita Rahn, Owner of Jolicure Farm, comes from a long line of New Brunswickers and grew up on the Kingston Peninsula. Elita and her partner have lived off grid in Jolicure NB for the past 20 years. Prior to farming Elita has a background in fine arts, graphic design, coaching; athletics and xc skiing, and carpentry. Established in 2019 Jolicure Farm is a small off grid market farm. All of the electricity consumed by the farm (and the farmer!) is generated from photovoltaics (Solar energy) and Wind.

Marc Schnob

NB

Marc Schnob is a first generation farmer who grew up in a dozen cities throughout Canada from Whitehorse to Halifax. He has always championed broad environmental causes throughout the 80s and 90s as he attempted to save the whales and the rainforest. After studying and pursuing a career as a filmmaker, he pivoted to vegetable farming after being diagnosed with and beating a terminal illness. Marc and his wife AJ have run The Green Bear Farm growing non-certified organic fruits and vegetables to sell at local farmers markets. Originally farming in Ontario, after 6 years they decided to move to the village of Kouchibouguac, NB, where they have continued to market farm since 2017.

Marc and AJ continue to grow their farm and increase the number of market locations in the small communities surrounding them as they work to increase food security in rural areas of New Brunswick as well as offer local and environmentally sustainable produce.

Margaret Graves

NS

Margaret Graves is an independent consultant working in the areas of organic agriculture, environmental stewardship and rotational grazing. She has been a farm worker, a farmers’ market manager, a research administrator, a writer, and has worked with co-ops and non-profits. She did her Masters’ on sheep pastures in Nova Scotia and has been investigating different parts of the food and farm system ever since – farm succession, farm viability, local food, research and extension. Margaret represents ACORN on the Policy Working Group of Farmers for Climate Solutions. She lives near Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia with her cats, a garden, hens and ducks.

Raphaëlle Maruchitch

NS

Raphaëlle started working in agriculture 7 years ago in Montréal, Québec. She has then continued her farming journey in Nova Scotia and is now working at the certified organic farm Spring Tide, on the South Shore. She has been experimenting with urban agriculture as well as larger and small-scale diversified rural farming. If she first fell in love with purely the essence of the farm work - like using your body, getting to be outside everyday and witnessing the marvel of plants growing – she then deeply connected with all its branching: being part of a community and connecting people, willingness to improve food access, resisting and trying to dismantle its inequalities.

She loves taking care of the soil, feeding people beautiful nutritious vegetables, and believes her work contributes to making the world a better place. In her previous life she was a science journalist writing articles for French newspapers in Paris. 

Jessica Fogarty

NS

Jessica lives in Central North River, Nova Scotia with her husband, Nigel, two dogs, Luna and Daisy, and a lively flock of ducks. With a background in Plant Science and Organic Agriculture, she has been working in the agriculture sector for over a decade, including four years as an organic inspector visiting farms and learning from growers across the region.

Jessica is deeply committed to building a more sustainable and just food system—one that supports local communities, protects the environment, and respects the knowledge and rights of Indigenous Peoples. She believes that food sovereignty must include space for Indigenous leadership and land stewardship, and that organic farming can be one meaningful part of that broader movement.

With the recent purchase of their new home, Jessica is putting her values into practice—working to transform a former commercial farm property into a thriving food forest. She’s focused on growing food using low-impact, organic methods, and is always learning how to work with the land in the most respectful and sustainable way possible.

As Vice President of ACORN’s Board of Directors, Jessica brings warmth, experience, and a passion for helping farmers and communities thrive—now and for future generations.

Bethany Koughan

NS

Community Outreach and Programming Coordinator

Bethany comes from three generations of farmers on Prince Edward Island. Before starting her own small-scale ecological flower farm Frolic Farm, she completed a Master's in Migration Studies, worked in the nonprofit world, and gained experience on farms in British Columbia, Ontario, Hawaii and Guatemala. 

She is passionate about local food systems, conscious land stewardship, and believes that wellbeing starts with healthy soils. She is excited to join the ACORN team and connect with other folks engaged at all levels of the organic movement.

You can reach Bethany at acornoffice@acornorganic.org