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Board of Directors

Board Members

Chairperson

Alison Snow

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Alison Snow grew up in Mount Pearl in a family of seven. She was always keenly interested in volunteering in the community and in entrepreneurism, both of which she began at a young age. She graduated from Mount Pearl Central High (now Mount Pearl Senior High) in 1986 and went on to attend Memorial University while working in various roles. She later enrolled at Cabot College (now College of the North Atlantic), earning a diploma in Computer Studies (Co-op) in 1998. Alison began her career in IT at what is now Bell (formerly xwave) and currently serves as a Systems Analyst at Memorial University. Her primary responsibilities include supporting various administrative departments at the University, including the Registrar’s Office and the Marine Institute. In addition to her professional work, Alison has been an active volunteer with many organizations, including Chair of the Memorial Community Garden Board, where she played a key role in garden initiatives such as expanding the garden—doubling the number of available plots from 30 to 60—and constructing a greenhouse for members. She was also involved with the Memorial Campus Food Bank, helping establish a connection between the food bank and the MUN Community Garden to encourage donations of surplus crops. She and Dan Rubin were co-founders of the Food Producers Forum in 2019, along with a core group of Directors, some of whom are still part of the Board. Alison, as Chair, has been very involved in almost every aspect of the Food Producers Forum and thoroughly enjoys seeing concepts help increase food production, security and sovereignty come to fruition. While Alison is a lifelong resident and spirited supporter of Newfoundland, one of Alison’s passions is travel, sparked by a summer residence in St. Pierre et Miquelon as part of her high school French curriculum and living in Ottawa for short periods during her Computer Studies program. She has traveled extensively, visiting various parts of Europe, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and almost all the provinces of Canada. She has passed her love of travel and adventure on to her children, and they now enjoy exploring new destinations to visit.

Memorial University Liason

Dr. Atanu Sarkar

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Atanu is originally from India, where he studied medicine and public health. He completed environmental studies at Queen’s University before joining Memorial University as a faculty member. He has served with the United Nations for various health projects. Atanu holds a MBBS degree in Medicine (Burdwan University, India 1992); PhD in Public Health (Jawaharlal University, 2005); Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies (Queens University Kingston 2010). He has published extensively in a series of studies about the impacts of environmental contaminants on human health. Currently he teaches public health for undergraduate medical students and graduate students in public health. Atanu Sarkar has been involved in food security related activities for decades, working in India, Ethiopia and in Newfoundland. He has worked with various community-based organizations and individuals, such as greenhouse projects for more than five years, in various capacities. He edited a volume on climate change, food security and adaptation with contributions by researchers from 18 different countries. He recently led a project to study food insecurity among the single parents and seniors in St John’s, a project was funded by Harris Centre at MUN. The article about that research was just published. He has also supervised a graduate student exploring the food culture of Newfoundland and has published in Newfoundland Quarterly. With two grants from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), Atanu has worked on promoting community based food production in the Mi’kmaq community at Conne River. A second project there is still ongoing. Currently, he is faculty sponsor for the project funded by the MUN Office of Public Engagement that is building the Earth Sheltered Greenhouse for public demonstration of year round food production at the O’Brien Farm in St. John’s.

Board Member

Bradley Russell

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As an accomplished professional with a background in government, technology, and stakeholder engagement, Bradley thrives on building teams and driving impactful initiatives. His career spans diverse roles in both public service and private sector consulting, where he has collaborated with clients across three continents. Currently, Bradley manages Big Feed Club Grocery Delivery, a carbon-neutral company committed to providing a living wage while delivering food and other products across the island of Newfoundland. Bradley's expertise lies in communications, policy development, digital strategy, and entrepreneurship. He has extensive experience in managing technology-focused teams, creating and disseminating compelling content, and providing media training for politicians. In his former role as Director of Communications and Digital Strategy for the Office of the Official Opposition, he was responsible for strategic messaging, media relations, and content management. He has also led policy and research activities, drafted legislative content, and spearheaded election platform initiatives. His private consulting practice has allowed hm to innovate in developing technology infrastructure and creating effective campaign strategy, by delivering successful persuasion and outreach campaigns. Bradley Russell has. been honoured as Programmer of the Year by the Canadian Association of Campus Activities and has previously managed high-impact projects like the COVID-19 Booster Bot and the Budget 2016 Calculator, featured by CBC News. He is a welcome addition to the Board of Food Producers Forum, always hard working and creative in whatever he takes on.

Vice Chair

Jeremy Carter

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Jeremy grew up in St. John’s and spent summers at his family’s Mt. Scio Farm. He enjoyed biking and being outdoors as much as possible. He attended high school then studied science at Memorial University and agriculture at McGill. These days he is involved in running the family farm, growing summer savory and is responsible for drying and packaging this beloved local herb. He was involved in a successful challenge to a group of American mobsters who wanted to import and burn US garbage here. Now he realizes that by doing this he saved his own children from the impacts of this highly polluting activity, creating a better place for them to live. Jeremy has spent time in Costa Rica where he has travelled more than once, marveling at seeing people living closer to the soil, surrounded by so much biodiversity. Jeremy brings to the Food Producers Forum decades of hands-on experience in agriculture. On a practical level, as a person directly involved in agriculture, Jeremy sees this work as wealth creation, and a way to use our resources more efficiently. He understands the medium and larger scale potential for food production here. At that scale, what is really needed are more opportunities for incubation of new ideas and exchange of information to help everyone food move forward to become more diversified and more productive. He believes that the Food Producers Forum is a critical missing piece that can make a huge difference to agriculture and local food security. Rather than exchanging abstract or academic information, we can share practical tips and exchange better methods for growing, storing and distributing food. There are ways we can move ahead through small-scale inventiveness applied to the devices we use. Small improvements can generate real efficiencies and success.

Secretary

Gregory Hewlett

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Greg grew up in Springdale, Newfoundland and moved to St. John’s to go to MUN. In his twenties, he co-owned and operated Fixed Coffee and Baking on Duckworth Street, which put him in touch with local food producers and the very special 2010s St. John’s restaurant/food scene, of which Fixed was a daytime hub. Being connected to and daily in the midst of community at the cafe instilled in him a sense that this was how life should be lived. Post-Fixed, Greg spent some years in Toronto teaching English to international students seeking Canadian student visas, which he continued to do online in the post-pandemic years back in St. John’s. This shift in career from local to global was enriching, but the pull back to a more grounded, local focus has led him back to food, and the Food Producers Forum. While decidedly a beginner in the worlds of gardening and agriculture – with only a couple years of raised bed veg and herb growing and a 4-month stint driving a tractor on an Australian zucchini farm a bunch of years ago – Greg was drawn to join the Food Producers Forum because its existence is a demonstration that we already possess the capacity, knowledge, and skills needed to simultaneously lessen our dire dependence on imported foods and make ourselves healthier, and that doing so will lead to the building of networks of care and resources that the present and future will increasingly call for. Such networks and the communities they mutually aid can be ways of not just sustaining ourselves but sources of joy, solidarity and togetherness of a type too often absent in these times.

Board Member

Cole Murphy

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Cole is a teacher at Holy Heart of Mary High School, where he has been teaching Industrial Arts and Biology for the past three years. His training has included undergraduate degrees in Ecology and Conservation Biology, as well as his training in Education. He holds a Diploma in Technology Education and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at Memorial University. In addition to the teaching career, He has been an avid gardener for many years. Growing up on the Burin Peninsula gave him a deep appreciation for sustainable agriculture, and he has brought this passion with him to the city, where he continues to poke holes in the ground, wherever he can find soil and seeds. Early in his teaching career, he had the privilege of helping O'Donel High School establish its first community garden. Through fundraising, by recruiting passionate students, he was able to support the creation of a greenhouse, and transform that space into a thriving educational resource. O'Donel High School was subsequently recognized as a Champion School by MMSB and later hosted the signing ofa proclamation for Composting Awareness Week by Education Minister Bernard Davis. Since joining Holy Heart, Cole has worked to harness the potential of the surrounding green space for food sustainability projects. In 2022, Holy Heart received a "Farm 2 Cafeteria" grant, which enabled hm to build eight raised garden beds. The 2022-2023 growing season was a great success, and with the harvest that resulted, as well as donations from local sponsors, the school hosted several free meal days (serving tacos and salads from the garden to more than 1,200 students. They were also able to supply neighboring seniors in an assisted living facility with fresh greens throughout the summer. Moving forward, Cole is aiming to exand the garden initiative and integrate food security education into classrooms across the province, in partnership with the Food Producers Forum.

Treasurer

Anita Walsh

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Anita is a Chartered Professional Accountant with more than 15 years of experience in public accounting in the small business sector, with experience in audit and assurance. Originally from the Netherlands, she emigrated to Canada at a young age, and worked in her family's restaurant, bakery, and hotel in Northern Ontario. She moved to Flatrock 25 years ago, where her family operated a convenience store, B&B, and then purchased their current large farm. Anita is co-owner of a 400-acre commercial farm in Portugal Cove, NL, where she works alongside my husband and son. Windy Heights Farm producers mushrooms, grows crops and forage and raises animals while aiming to make all of this sustainable both financially and ecologically. Anita is passionate about sustainable, regenerative practices in food production. She is a strong voice advocating for NL food producers, and aims to support the goal of making our province self-sustaining in food production.

Board Member

Angela Spasiuk

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Angela feels blessed to have grown up in Mount Pearl, NL with a large family on a large plot of land in the middle of the city. Her parents were one of the first homeowners in what was called Glendale. They were originally from the bay and continued to garden, fish, hunt and forage while living in Glendale, the town that was later renamed Mount Pearl. Angela grew up growing and preserving food, composting and recycling long before it was the trendy thing to do. She started university education at Memorial University, then she moved to Edmonton to finish an Education degree. She lived in Alberta, raising a family, and teaching in. the Edmonton schools ,for the next 34 years, but she spent her summers in Newfoundland with family and friends. Angela has always loved gardening with her family while growing up, so she continued to tend a home garden in Edmonton. She also brought nature into her classroom, creating and implementing an Outdoor Classroom while she was teaching young children in Kindergarten. When she retired from teaching, she and her husband moved back to Newfoundland permanently. Around their new home in St. Philips, they have been creating a Permaculture Food Forest.. Angela is intensely aware of the challenge of food insecurity for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador and has been looking for ways to do something about this, after she moved home. She has joined the Board of Food Producers Board to help ease some of the burdens that small- and large-scale food producers are facing in this province. She strongly believes that everyone has a right to grow food and to become self-sustaining.

Board Member

Megane Jean Louis

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Born and raised in Mauritius, Megane embarked on a journey to Newfoundland to pursue her passion for engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Now in her second year, she is developing a strong foundation in mechanical engineering, with a keen interest in applying technical knowledge to real-world challenges. Currently, she is an engineering intern at Food Producers Forum, where she contributes to projects that support local food production and sustainability. As part of the project management and communication teams, she helps coordinate initiatives, ensure effective outreach to the community, and work on our website development. Her work aligns with her broader goal of using engineering principles to drive impactful change, particularly in areas related to food security and sustainable development. Through this role, she is gaining valuable hands-on experience in project management, problem-solving, and collaboration—skills that will shape her future career as an engineer committed to innovation and community-driven solutions.

Past Board Members

Founding Chairperson

Dan Rubin

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Dan is a retired educator with a Master’s Degree in Curriculum Design from the University of Victoria. During a thirty-year career in education, he served as a teacher at the elementary, secondary and university levels, as a school principal in two provinces and worked as a developer of unique learner centered educational programs. This work earned an award from the Prime Minister of Canada in 2000. For two periods he led teams to create programs for the renewal of traditional indigenous languages, while collaborating with native elders. Since retiring from education and moving to Newfoundland, he has been active as a musical performer, arts administrator, writer and publisher. In the past he has led a series of community development, educational and arts groups. Here in Newfoundland he served as a board member of the Writers’ Alliance, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Musicians Association and founded and chaired the Pouch Cove Heritage Society. He is an accomplished author and musician. A local history book that he edited and designed, Pouch Cove: Our Home by the Sea, received the Manning Heritage Award in 2015. As a home gardener, he has built on his undergraduate degree in biology (Reed College, 1968) to develop new approaches to local food production. His workshops on Creating the Year Round Garden have been attended by more than 2400 people, and he has contributed to food security as facilitator of the Provincial Food Network and founding chair of Food Producers Forum. Along with written articles for regional magazines he produced a ten-episode radio series about gardening that aired on CHMR Radio called “Uncle Dirt.” His most recent book was published by Boulder Books in 2023: the northern gardening guide, Sun, Seed & Soil has become a regional best-seller.

Former Board Member

Tim Walsh

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Tim is Horticulturist and the Nursery Manager at the MUN Botanical Garden who has been with the garden for 30 years! He manages the greenhouse and nursery area and is involved with all levels of propagation and production for the gardens many display beds along with the many Research Projects at the garden. The nursery also supplies plants for MUN’s Biology labs on campus. Tim teaches workshops at the Garden, leads tours, helps with school groups and works closely with F.O.G (Friends of the Garden) Horticulture Group to produce a wide variety of high quality plants for their annual plant sale fundraisers. He is also a regular on CBC’s Gardening Crosstalk and has been presenting a recent series of online workshops for gardeners. He grew up in Kingsmans Cove, Fermeuse, on the Southern Shore and graduate in Horticulture from the University of Guelph in 1999. His interests include new and underutilized flowering plants and shrubs for the Atlantic Canadian garden. He is carrying out comparison studies on grow lights for local hydroponic production. Tim brings a wealth of focused horticultural knowledge to our group as well sound advice, as we develop our policies and procedures.

Former Board Member

Nathan Gidge

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Nathan Gidge is a former educator turned farmer who grew up on New World Island, a quiet rural community in Notre Dame Bay. He had an idyllic childhood in a family that kept chickens, turkeys, sheep, pigs, and he had a horse that was way too big for him, that he rode all over their property. He completed elementary schooling in Newville, where he attended New World Island East Elementary. His earliest years in school had a big impact on him; the staff were wonderful, and being there felt like you were part of a family. In that school he learned about working together and being part of a community. After training at Universite Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia, he returned to Newfoundland as a teacher at Bay D’Espoir Academy. He became High School Principal at Jane Collins Academy in Hare Bay where he finished out the last of his days as an educator. Nathan has always loved growing food. He is fascinated by how plants and animals grow and interact, how little we understand, and how much we have to learn about the living world. To acquire more knowledge about these complex relationships, he completed his Permaculture Design Consultant Certification in Saskatoon. This reinforced his understanding that nature knows best and when we ignore that, we do the world and ourselves a disservice. Rather than imposing a plan, you need to observe and learn from the landscape, the plants, the sun, the insects and animals. This has made him more patient in his farming. It also provided the inspiration for his family farm. Kingfisher Farm is a family farm born out of the desire to marry concerns about food security with the need to develop a system that combines organic principles with a deep belief in the wisdom of the soil. Rather than bringing in nutrients that are created artificially, Nathan has come to see our local landscapes as the best source for everything we need. He considers himself a “soil farmer;” he has a passion for building healthy soil. He and his partner, Samantha Whitman settled on a barren rocky hillside in Gambo. By choosing to build soil and grow food in that place, they are showing that good food, and the healthy soil on which it depends, can be created anywhere in our province. In their raised beds and under high tunnels, Nathan and Samantha have been growing cantaloupe, eight types of tomatoes, seven varieties of peppers, eggplant, beans, peas, a wide range of salad greens, edible flowers, herbs and a variety of other vegetables, fruits and flowers. In 2021 Kingfisher Farm supplied 15 families with weekly CSA boxes, and provided Gambo’s Family Resource Centre with produce that was passed on to new mothers with young children. Nathan and Samantha are raising their own son Gabriel, while continuing to develop and expand their hillside farm. They have made a commitment to donate a significant portion of the food they produce to those in their local community who need it most. As a new member of our board, Nathan brings with him a wealth of knowledge about food production, and his deep commitment to rebuilding soil as the foundation for growing healthy food.

Former Treasurer

Heather Rhodes

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Heather grew up in Port Moody, BC, a community at the end of the Barnet Inlet, down the hill from Simon Fraser University (SFU). She went to school at SFU and earned a graduate degree in psychology. She spent several years working as an academic advisor and moved into information technology while working on a project for the university. On moving to St. John’s, NL, she began working with other universities to help them implement new student administration systems to manage their student records and processes from admission to graduation. As a consultant, she has traveled to work with institutions in cities across North America. She spent her childhood hiking on Burnaby Mountain and the mountains of the Lower Mainland and she learned about plants and gardening from her parents and friends, growing flowers, shrubs, and trees in Port Moody and in Burnaby. For many years, she volunteered with the SFU Student Bursary Plant Sale Committee to raise funds for students in need through the sale of plants raised by plant sale committee members and donors. After moving to St. John’s, NL, she started raising flowers and vegetables from seed, creating compost, and building beds. Relocating to Holyrood, she began producing food on a larger scale, experimenting with greenhouses and raised, no-dig beds. Through research on growing in cold climates and food security, she found the Greenhouse Outreach Project and volunteered to help build the demonstration greenhouse at O’Brien’s Farm and interview project participants about their plans for their own greenhouse. She joined the Food Producer Forum (FPF) Board to learn more about and to help with food production projects. To the Board she brings her interest in local food production, food sustainability, and food security, in addition to skills in business analysis, project management, research, and writing.

Former Board Member

Solange Fuekang

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Solange grew up in a small village called Baba 1, Ndop in the North West Region of Cameroon. On their farm her family grew just about everything they ate: beans, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, peanuts, rice, fruit. In her earlier years she was a volunteer for her aunt’s non-profit organization called Nascent Solutions Inc.. Solange was educated at St. Augustine’s College, Nso, and graduated in 2002 with a GCE A-Level Certificate. Then she went on to the University of Buea, but due to unforeseen circumstances, had to drop out of school, and was not able to return until now. She lived and worked in Accra, Ghana for about a month in 2018 and hopes to travel as soon as she can and if possible, work overseas. Solange brings years of farming experience (what most people will refer to as kitchen gardening) to our work, as well as the zeal to find a way to produce food locally and organically. She currently lives in St. John’s where she is an undergraduate engineering student at MUN. She is hoping during her university career to work on very interesting things. Solange is also a single mother of a rambunctious toddler and she worries about what he puts in his stomach – where it is coming from, how it was produced, how it is preserved, and if it is generally safe. She brings this practical, personal perspective to all our discussions of food production and food security.

Former Treasurer

Stephen Gullage

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Stephen Eric Gullage grew up in St. John’s, NL, son of a nurse and a politician, and spent his time reading books, climbing trees, birdwatching, and playing sports. He graduated from Bishop’s College High School in 1993, the University of New Brunswick in 2000 (Bachelor of Science in Forestry and Environmental Management), and from Dalhousie University in 2005 (MSc in Biology). He completed a Permaculture Design Certificate with the Permaculture Research Institute in 2015 in Rhynie, Scotland. Steve lives in Torbay and is employed as Senior Biologist with SEM Ltd., a locally-owned and operated environmental consulting company in St. John’s, Nain, and Labrador City. SEM is also a registered Indigenous business with the Nunatsiavut Government and registered as an Aboriginal business federally. SEM strives to blend technology with contemporary science and traditional ecological knowledge. Recently they have conducted research and development projects on (1) using RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, i.e. drones) to conduct raptor nest surveys, minimizing disturbance to nesting birds (the drone replaces the traditionally expensive, GHG emitting, and disruptive helicopters of the past) (2) Boreal Felt Lichen Monitoring. Previous experience on various boards, including Food Bank, Community Garden and OH&S committees has allowed her to bring her organizational and planning skills to Food Producers Forum, as well as her IT skills. Steve conducts monitoring of this species to assess health and vigor and to establish important life-history variables (3) The Newfoundland Caribou Strategy – Steve was the Manager of the field program for this 15-million dollar project to research the decline of caribou on the island. Steve was responsible for managing the field team who collared dozens of caribou, bear, lynx and coyote, and Steve participated in collaring caribou calves to assess mortality causes and crawled into bear dens and lynx cages to immobilize animals for telemetry. Steve has lived in Fredericton, NB, Halifax NS, Fort Frances, ON, Sackville, NB, Kejimkujik National Park (NS), Fundy National Park (NB), conducted hummingbird telemetry in Costa Rica, traveled to and chased birds around many states in the US, throughout Mexico, and the Greek Islands and Dominican Republic. He has a particular interest in where we are headed on this island of ours concerning food security, and has joined FPF because he wants to be a part of helping address that issue. His experiences with community gardening, food banks, backyard gardening, and attempting to bring people together for a common cause are all experiences he brings to the Forum.

Former Board Member

Rachel Snelgrove

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Rachel Snelgrove is an Indigenous student at Memorial University who is pursuing a Bachelor of Biology degree, with a concentration in Applied Ecology and Conservation. Her experience in the Greenhouse Production Program at Academy Canada inspired her to continue her studies at Memorial, with a focus on food security. Raised in Labrador, Rachel is passionate about Northern food security and sustainability. She understands the challenges of climate and the costs of importing food for people who live in the North. She wants to make sure that everyone can enjoy the benefits of eating healthy food. Her perspective is both cultural and ecological, a symbiosis that brings together ecological understanding and traditional knowledge. Rachel regularly canoes the Churchill River where she finds inspiration from the traditional trapper’s way of life. She traveled to Tanzania, Africa, as a student volunteer where she had the opportunity to climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. While in Africa, she saw how food sustainability has impacted tribal communities, in a place where children walk to school kilometers away not just to be educated, but to be fed. This experience planted a seed of deep commitment for her future studies and chosen career path. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the Province’s wilderness with her dogs. Rachel brings to our board practical knowledge of plant growth and greenhouse production methods from working at Lester’s Farm Market in St. John’s. She is currently a farm associate at the Pye Centre for Northern Boreal Food Systems, operated as part of the Labrador Campus of Memorial University. Her role there includes organizing community events and management of the farm. As a member of the board of Food Producers Forum, Rachel will provide a voice for Indigenous and Northern communities in our province.

You Can Help Build A Growing Community

Do you have a story you would like to share with other growers and foragers?

Would you like to be more involved in sustainable food production In Newfoundland & Labrador?

 

Then we would love to hear from you!

Food Producers Forum, Inc.
PO Box 29047  Torbay Road  
St. John's  NL,  A1A 5B5
foodproducersforum@gmail.com

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We acknowledge Ktaqmkuk as the homeland and territory of the Beothuk and Mi’kmaq and Labrador as the territory of the Innu of Nitassinan, Inuit of Nunatsiavut, and Inuit of NunatuKavut.  We hold respect for the cultures, traditions and knowledge of those who call these places home.  We acknowledge the persistence of racist attitudes and policies. We will work with Indigenous partners to create places of healing and shared knowledge.

 

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