Skip to content
Hand holding salmon berries

Nourish Awards

Recognizing and celebrating leadership, honouring longstanding changemakers and emergent voices in food-health transformation.

Nourish offers awards in and across our program areas:

  • Indigenous Foodways

    Honouring those advancing Truth and Reconciliation and uplifting Indigenous foodways in health care through food with heart, humility, and respect.

  • Planetary Health

    Recognizing those making strides for the health of people and the planet through thoughtful, systemic leadership in organizational food practices.

  • Anchor Leadership

    Recognizing bold leadership that harnesses the power of food to create resilient, equitable, and community-rooted health systems.

Margaret Edgars Reconciliation Recognition “Food is Love” Award

  • Nourishing Traditional Food in Health Care & Community 2025 Recipient – Individual

    Laura Salmon has led the field and practice of making traditional foods accessible to patients in health care for 25 years. She has mentored so many in dietetics, in thoughtful governance, and in meaningful settler- Indigenous collaborations. Laura has shared her wisdom as a Nourish board member, a member of the Nourish Indigenous & Allies Advisory, and as one of the co-authors of the Food is Our Medicine learning journey, all while maintaining her role as Director of First Nations Health Programs at the Yukon Hospital Corporation, ensuring self-identifying Indigenous patients have access to the cultural dimensions of care to support their well-being. Laura’s work exemplifies the spirit of Margaret Edgars: honouring knowledge, culture, and the land, while strengthening relationships that lead to real, lasting change.

  • Nourishing Traditional Food in Health Care & Community 2025 Recipient – Organization

    Northern Health exemplifies commitment to settler-Indigenous collaboration on traditional foods. Shelly Crack, Tessie Harris, Jenny Cross, and Margaret Edgars herself joined the first Nourish cohort back in 2017, deeply committed to expanding access to traditional food for community members on Haida Gwaii. The team honours Haida wisdom and culture by holding it as the central guiding force of their efforts, which include navigating colonial mindsets and policies around food safety, to ensure elders and patients had access to salmon, oolican, berries and the culture that supports their healing while they are in care. For their deep commitment to doing work around valuing Indigenous knowledge and carrying out Margaret’s vision of food as love and food as medicine, we recognize the remarkable team at Northern Health.

Nourish Planetary Plate Award

  • Nourish Planetary Plate 2025 Recipient – Individual

    Annie Marquez has made a tremendous impact by spearheading low-carbon menus, integrating sustainability goals into procurement, and building partnerships with community food organizations and diverse stakeholders. As part of the first Nourish Innovator cohort, Annie led the development of the Sustainable Menu Guide, a comprehensive, step-by-step resource designed to help food service directors navigate the complexities of six key dimensions of sustainability. In the second Nourish cohort, Annie expanded her impact by forging innovative partnerships to create Hôpital Solidaire – an initiative dedicated to providing free healthy meals for patients in hospital cafeterias and vouchers for fresh produce markets to improve food security and strengthen sustainable local food systems. Most recently, Annie has led a pioneering collaboration with La Transformerie, focusing on minimizing waste throughout the entire food journey, from field to tray to compost. Her visionary leadership continues to demonstrate how health care can serve as a catalyst for environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and planetary health.

  • Nourish Planetary Plate 2025 Recipient – Organization

    Vancouver Coastal Health’s Planetary Health Menu Project Team is redefining hospital food as a force for healing, cultural connection, and climate action. Led by Dr. Annie Lalande and Tiffany Chiang, the team unites chefs, clinicians, dietitians, and planetary health experts to build a more sustainable, patient-centred food system. The Planetary Health Menu Project demonstrates that sustainable food systems can elevate patient care, empower staff, and support the planet. With its blend of innovation, cultural relevance, and system-wide leadership, this initiative sets a national benchmark for climate-smart, compassionate health care.

Nourish Anchor Leadership Award

  • Nourish Anchor Leadership 2025 Recipient – Individual

    Michelle Stranges is a bold, visionary leader transforming how food is understood and used within healthcare. At St. Joseph’s Health Care London, she has redefined food as a catalyst for healing, sustainability, and community connection. Through her leadership with the Nourish cohort, Michelle has advanced health equity, sustainability, and local food systems. Her work embodies courage, creativity, and compassion, turning a small innovation grant into a flourishing model for sustainable, equitable, and community-rooted healthcare food systems.

  • Nourish Anchor Leadership 2025 Recipient – Organization

    The Nova Scotia Health Authority’s Nutrition and Food Services Team exemplifies leadership in advancing a culture of nutrition across Nova Scotia – one that fosters healing, supports recovery, and strengthens the province’s local food system. Through evidence-based strategies, they have significantly improved patient outcomes, most notably through the implementation of the Enhanced Room Service model in 14 hospitals since 2018. This initiative empowers patients with greater choice regarding when and what they eat, enhancing both satisfaction and nutritional intake. Beyond addressing hospital-based malnutrition and achieving patient feeding goals, the team has demonstrated exceptional commitment to sustainable and localized food procurement. Their leadership is bold, strategic, and deeply grounded in leveraging public dollars to create a stronger local food economy, reducing waste to support planetary health and improve patient care.

Awards Purpose:

Recognize and celebrate leadership: honour longstanding changemakers and emergent voices in food-health transformation.

Drive visibility: spotlight food-health champions to raise the awareness and profile of leading-edge work.

Inspire and engage new champions: connect executive and philanthropic investment to visible, inspiring results.

Showcase diversity: of efforts across geographies, regions, and contexts.

Foster connection: link nominees and awardees with peers and emerging leaders.

Build and sustain momentum: highlight both catalytic early-stage efforts and enduring initiatives that have reshaped policy, practice, and culture.