SFPC Community Advisory Board (CAB)
The SFPC CAB consists of stakeholders from different sectors of the food system and represents towns across the region from Fall River to Plymouth. The CAB has been meeting monthly since September 2021 to create a thriving, inclusive, and culturally diverse regional food system in which we all benefit from healthy, accessible, and affordable foods.
Adele Sands, Chair
Adele Sands is a Project Manager at Left Field PM, creating project timelines for constructions projects. She is the former Superintendent/Director of Bristol County Agricultural High School in Dighton. She has previously worked as the Director of Student Services in both vocational and traditional schools. In all of her administrative roles, Adele has seen how food insecurity directly impacts families, particularly how it affects students’ ability to access their education. This is one reason why Adele is so committed to the work of the SFPC.
Current CAB members
Interested in joining the CAB? Please email sfpc@marioninstitute.org or call 508-748-0816 x110. New members onboard annually in January however you will be waitlisted until winter.
In Honor of Peter Muise, former Chair of the CAB
It is with heartfelt sadness and gratitude that we remember and honor Peter Muise, the Southcoast Food Policy Council’s (SFPC) Community Advisory Board Chair. Peter passed away on July 6, 2022 after a courageous, 19 year-long battle with cancer. Peter was a tenacious advocate for the betterment of the Southcoast, whether the issue was homelessness, education, regional resiliency, or supporting new business ventures. Those who had the pleasure of working with him know how he approached each issue, even cancer, with humor, determination, patience, thoughtfulness, and love.
When the pandemic began in early 2020, Peter began attending our weekly SFPC emergency response meetings. He also started calling me after each meeting and emailing me in-between the meetings to ask questions, propose ideas, and offer feedback. As the rate of food insecurity rose on the Southcoast, so did Peter’s responses, concerns, and interest. It was an easy decision for our newly formed SFPC Community Advisory Board (CAB) to elect Peter as its inaugural Board Chair, a position he enthusiastically accepted and performed this past year, often from an infusion chair or in the car driving to and from treatments in Boston. We also acknowledge his amazing wife Robin for all her support and attentive listening as she was always bravely by his side for all of these discussions and meetings.
Peter’s support and mentorship was instrumental as we developed the core infrastructure of the SFPC and the policies and procedures that will guide us long into the future. I am honored and grateful to have shared this experience with him. You can read more about this remarkable man and his many achievements here.
