2025 BC Organic Conference Keynote Speaker
Brent Preston & Gillian Flies
Brent Preston
Brent Preston and his wife, Gillian Flies, owned and operated The New Farm, a Regenerative Organic Certified vegetable operation near Creemore, Ontario, for almost 20 years. In 2024 they transformed their farm into the New Farm Centre, a non-profit research and education organization dedicated to developing, demonstrating and advocating for a regenerative farming system in Canada.
Brent is the past President of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, co-founder and President of Farmers for Climate Solutions, and the author of The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution, a national bestseller.
Prior to launching his farming career, Brent worked as a human rights investigator, election observer and journalist on four continents.
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Gillian Flies
Gillian Flies grew up on her family sheep farm in Vermont. She worked as a human rights investigator, election observer and public sector management consultant before returning to farming in 2003.
Gillian and her husband, Brent Preston, owned and operated The New Farm, a Regenerative Organic Certified vegetable operation near Creemore, Ontario, for almost 20 years. In 2024 they transformed their farm into the New Farm Centre, a non-profit research and education organization dedicated to developing, demonstrating and advocating for a regenerative farming system in Canada.
Gillian is a Director and Past President of the Canadian Organic Growers, a founding member of Farmers for Climate Solutions, and is the Executive Director of The New Farm Centre.
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