Crystal Mackay is stepping down to make a career change.Ottawa—The Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI) is looking for a new president to take over from Crystal MacKay after she steps down at the end of April to pursue a career change.The move comes after a decade of working with agrifood support groups culminating in the formation of CCFI, which has embraced the task of building public confidence in and knowledge about the Canadian food production system.“Crystal has been a catalyst in building public trust in food and farming,” said CCFI Chair Kim McConnell. “CCFI and the Canadian public trust initiative has benefited significantly under Crystal's leadership. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Crystal for her leadership on behalf of the board, staff and extensive network of CCFI partners across Canada's agrifood system. She has truly been a pioneer in shaping the vision and implementing a unique whole-food system approach to earning trust.”A search for a new president will be underway in the near future, she said. “The CCFI Board and staff are committed to continuing to build the strength of the CCFI and its mandate as a service provider to help Canada's food system earn trust. This includes a solid transition plan and assurance of delivery on services and value for its funders and partners.”Don Buckingham, President of the Canadian Agri-food Policy Institute, said, “The CCFI is doing important work which Crystal has piloted for many years and the next president will need to continue and amplify. Consumer trust has become, and will remain, a major objective of Canadian agriculture and agrifood production to advance sales in home markets and those abroad.”While she may be going away, Mackay says she remains a strong supporter of CCFI's role in the next phase of the Canadian food system' trust building journey and intends to remain engaged with its initiatives.“I've really enjoyed the leadership role I played with CCFI and I'm committed to support this important organization and the public trust cause as I pursue my interests and passions for public speaking, communications and training and development,” she said.Mackay became CCFI president at its formation in June, 2016 in its transition from Farm and Food Care Canada, which she was the CEO of for about a year. Before that she was executive director of Farm and Food Care Ontario for four years, a period during which it fashioned some enduring messages about the role of families in operating Canada's farms and why environmental protection and food safety was important to them.For two years prior to that that she ran AGCare which represented crop and horticulture producers and became part of Farm and Food Care Ontario.As well she has been a board member of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair for the last year.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.