Meet the Just Food Collective
Committee
We’ve removed our hierarchical roles as defined by incorporated/regulatory structures, and provided instead a phrase that represents our area of subject matter expertise or interest
Vicky Bishop
(she/they)
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Vicky brings over 15 years of hospitality experience into her food systems work at Just Food, with a focus on organisational and volunteer management, network building, advocacy, and creative program development. Her background in specialty coffee and the culinary world sparked questions about the gap between our love of food and the way the people and systems behind it are often undervalued. This curiosity deepened through a degree in Food Studies, where she became involved with the organisation. At Just Food Collective, her work centres on building partnerships and supporting communities in ways that strengthen food justice efforts. She remains a committed advocate for food as a human right, with a particular passion for culturally rooted food knowledge and the people who carry it.
Sara Guest
Researcher in student food insecurity (she/her)
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Sara is a researcher and geographer in the final year of her PhD at the University of Melbourne. Her work sits at the intersection of critical higher education and food systems research, and explores the day to day experiences of food insecure university students in Melbourne. She joined Just Food through the ‘Well Fed’ project and has worked with student unions, Study Melbourne, Australian universities, and other organisations to advocate for student-centered solutions to food insecurity among higher education students. More broadly, Sara believes in a food system that ensures dignity for all.
Savannah Supski
(she/her)
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Savannah grew up in Boorloo, surrounded by a family who loves food. She spent her childhood cooking in the kitchen and growing food in the backyard. With a fierce social justice compass and guiding principle of love, she’s been doing some sort of activism for most of her life. She’s a Bachelor of Food Studies graduate and co-lead of Well Fed. On the side she works at the Foundation for Young Australians on their Young Mayors program.
Carl Watson
Teacher in Food Tech and Gastronome (he/him)
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Carl holds a Bachelor's degree in Food Studies and is a co-founder of Just Food. With a decade of diverse experience in the food sector, from farmers markets to hospitality and events, Carl is dedicated to addressing food security and fostering conviviality within the food system. He also believes that celebrating and learning the art of food fermentation holds the key to tackling some of these challenges.
Lucy Beveridge
Non-diet body inclusive LGBTQIA+ 🏳️🌈, ND, SW friendly Nutritionist (she/her)
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Lucy is a dedicated clinical nutritionist with over a decade of experience in the health industry, where she discovered her passion for the intersection of food and health. Committed to community building and mutual aid, Lucy advocates for free and accessible food for all. She actively participates in unconventional sourcing methods like dumpster diving and alley fruit shopping to redistribute. Her journey led her to the Just Food Collective, a group she joined to broaden her reach and provide nutritious food and a sense of community to a wider audience. Lucy also has a deep appreciation for dining, particularly when she can taste the chefs' commitment to high-quality, ethically sourced ingredients.
Rad Cristiano
Teacher in Food Tech
(he/him)
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Rad has spent most of his life working within Australia’s food system – from running a market stall selling liquorice in his youth to now teaching Food Studies in secondary schools. Through years in hospitality, cooking-based activism, dumpster diving, vegetarianism, and food-centred friendships, his passion for food and its broader impact has only increased. His interests in food literacy, workers’ rights, food security, and equitable systems have led him to the Just Food Collective. Rad hopes that by working alongside others striving for positive change, he can find hope within a food system that too often feels stacked against us.
Persia Hethorn-Faulkner
(she/they)
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Hailing from Melbourne's West, Persia lives and works on unceded Wurundjeri land. Their passion for food has taken many forms over the years; learning completed their undergrad in Food Studies. They love the intersection of all things food and art, working both as a picture framer and completing the student internship with Just Food in 2023. Their involvement with JF projects such as the Fed Up Campaign stems from a desire to break down the stigma of food insecurity experience and bring attention to injustice in the food system more broadly. This means connecting food to conversations about intersectionality, sustainability and colonisation.
Jay Fong
Baker and Cake Decorator
(she/her)
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Hailing from sunny Singapore, Jay is a creative foodie with a keen interest in funky ferments. Growing up in a densely urbanized region of South-East Asia and with a decade of experience in the food industry, Jay has developed a deep appreciation for sustainable food systems and a longing for alternative foods. As a fermentation workshop host, Jay passionately explores and shares the rich cultural heritage of traditional fermentation practices. She believes in the power of food to connect people across different ethnicities and backgrounds, creating a shared space for learning and appreciation. Inspired by a desire to experience alternative ways of living and accessing food, Jay chose to settle down in Melbourne, where she has been enjoying the vibrant community and cultural diversity. Her journey reflects a commitment to fostering interconnections between people and promoting a sustainable, inclusive food culture.
Tom Li
(he/him)
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Tom is currently researching the practices of migrant gardeners to determine how to best support vulnerable groups wanting to self-determine their food security. More broadly, he is interested in how people navigate the capitalist food system; how people get by and find meaning through their struggle. As a child of migrant chefs and cooks, Tom has experienced how migrants and hospitality workers are undervalued in our economic and value systems. Joining Just Food, Tom is determined to collaborate with like-minded food system champions to bring about a more equitable, diverse and delicious food system.
Carol Perdigão
Committee Member & Co-Founder
(she/her)
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Carol is a Brazilian foodie and a comms polymath. She has worked in the film industry, as a chef, managing her own content marketing agency and sharing vegan recipes on her former blog and Instagram. She's obsessed with all things food and can be a bit snobby when it comes to coffee and bread - but only cause she knows the importance of buying from ethical suppliers and giving food the attention it deserves. She has graduated from her third degree (a Bachelor of Food Studies) and is now doing a Masters of Social Work. Carol can talk for hours about how it's all interconnected, and we'll need to think systemically to address the biggest challenges of our era.
Patrick McMillin
(he/him)
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Patrick is a German-American who now calls Melbourne home. He obsesses over food for its gastronomic pleasures and power to do good. With over 20 years of hospitality and foods experience, Patrick knows the many problems of our modern food system firsthand. Today he is a Food Studies graduate, Well Fed Project Coordinator, avid researcher and writer, and is determined to make a tangible difference in this space. Find him at RMIT, Study Melbourne, South Wharf, or Melbourne Town Hall as he leads the Well Fed project together with Savannah.
Luke Pringipas
Committee Member & Designer (he/him)
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Luke is a graphic designer and brand specialist with a decade of industry experience. Believing design’s greatest power lies in information organisation, he distills complex ideas into digestible visuals while infusing them with personality and delight. His obsession with food began while working at a local fruit shop, where he learnt about ingredients and cooking. This passion-turned-obsession quickly extended beyond the kitchen, leading him to explore food preservation, culinary history, and food systems–ultimately connecting him with the Just Food Collective. Though not a food systems expert, Luke plays a role in amplifying Just Food’s mission, using his design and communication skills to make their message more accessible and engaging. When he’s not designing, you’ll likely find him cooking, photographing, preserving, reading about, eating, talking about–or simply thinking about–food.
Amy Tacey
Food Systems Project Coordinator (she/her)
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Amy flipped from the wine bar and hospitality scene of Melbourne to thinking about the collaborative and tangible contributions to a better food system. She loves hosting elaborate dinner parties, a bit like Mirka Mora would have, but also combining that passion with serious effort into re-designing food environments to be more equitable, convivial and supportive. She has a degree in Food Studies and was the Food Hub Coordinator at Common Ground Project for the past 2.5 years. Now she’s in the Food Systems team at VicHealth. She’s always willing to get involved in aligned projects, in food, farming and social justice. Reach out and say hi! amy@justfood.org.au
Members
Marcelo Paternoster
Member & Videographer
(he/him)
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Marcelo Paternoster is a Melbourne-based Filmmaker passionate about visual storytelling, transforming ideas into compelling narratives across film, television, and commercial productions. With a strong background in cinematography, directing, and editing, he brings technical precision, creative vision, and a collaborative approach to every project.
Morgan McDonnell
(he/him)
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Whoops! Morgan hasn’t written their bio yet. They’re a valued member of Just Food Collective nonetheless.
Gio Rojas
(he/him)
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Whoops! Gio hasn’t written their bio yet. They’re a valued member of Just Food Collective nonetheless.
Lavinia Kailis
(she/her)
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Lavinia is wholly dedicated to remedying a broken international food system. She believes that a certain fundamental connectedness is permitted only through food, as a most intimate bond that tells tales of a person’s culture, history, experience, and tastes. Operating under the title “Lovage”, Lavinia facilitates food-sharing events to illuminate exactly how food provides the means to exercise community, culture and sovereignty. Indeed, good food is a vessel for storytelling that ought to be platformed as equal alongside music, visual art, and performance. Lavinia is an intern at Just Food Collective, and greatly admires the emphasis on dignity as well as cultural and contextual sensitivity in food relief. She has a history in organic agriculture and is searching for new avenues through which we can encourage holistic approaches to farming that resist the productivist paradigm. Lavinia believes that food is political. Everything is political. LandBack. Free Palestine.
Margot Wilson
(she/her)
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Whoops! Morgan hasn’t written their bio yet. They’re a valued member of Just Food Collective nonetheless.
Partner Organisations
These organisations support us with active contributions to our actions and projects. We’re super grateful and proud of our partnerships, and will make sure they continue to provide benefit to all.
