Meet Mark, our newest addition to the Conservation Council! Mark has stepped into the role of Buy Local NB project development and marketing officer:
I was raised in Keswick Ridge, a small farming community located just outside of Fredericton, New Brunswick. Growing up, buying local wasn’t a movement or novelty; it was simply part of life. If you needed apples, you went to Coburn’s. If you needed corn for supper that night, you ran down to the stand at the end of the road where farmers were selling their harvest from earlier in the day. I was privileged to have these values instilled in me at such a young age.
I spent the better part of my life in the Fredericton area, graduating from Fredericton High School and attending the Centre for Arts and Technology where I studied Event and Talent Management. My career has allowed me to be part of the New Brunswick music industry (Music/Musique NB, ECMA), to assist in the planning and implementation of local festivals (Tay Creek Folk Festival, Harvest Jazz and Blues, Fundy Fringe Festival, etc.) and to work alongside some brilliant individuals as part of the local tech startup scene (Radian6).
I’ve put down my roots in Quispamsis, with my wife and my increasingly active four-year-old daughter. My wife and I were recently married, with a local ceremony in Fredericton where my daughter attended followed by a symbolic ceremony in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. As a family, we make a point to support local producers and instill those values in our daughter.
Our identity as New Brunswickers is deeply rooted in agriculture. It’s in our blood. Somewhere along the way though, it seems that we’ve substituted the local flavour we grew up with, with goods that are mass produced or convenient. That’s why this Buy Local NB project is so important. We need to celebrate and promote what we’ve excelled at for so many years. We need to make connections between farmers, artisans and those looking to buy from them. I’m looking forward to engaging the residents of the province and those visiting, on those things we do the best as we launch our Buy Local NB website and our new mobile application.
I encourage anyone who might be reading this and wants to be involved with this project to connect with me. You can do so by emailing me at homegrown@conservationcouncil.