Interested in creating fertile grounds to grow – on campuses and or in the community? On May 14, 2-3pm EST tune in to a webinar hosted in collaboration with Food Secure Canada and the Campus Food Systems Project. Join Catherine Lung from Ryerson and Rob Macneish from Dalhousie to learn about garden challenges, and opportunities. See the full poster and sign up here.
The University of New Brunswick’s new food service contract with Sodexo – UNBs provider for the past 10 years – brings exciting developments in the working relationship between food services and the campus community. In addition to a 30% local procurement clause (defined as Maritimes), the new contract with Sodexo includes a Healthy Food Services Incubator (HFSI) project led by Professor and CFSG faculty advisor, Mary McKenna.
The Project: The HFSI recognizes that having healthy food options on campus that connect to and support regional agricultural systems requires the support and engagement of multiple stakeholder groups, including the food service provider, university administration, students and student groups , faculty, staff, and the surrounding community.
“[The HFSI] provides the food-service (and vending) caterers with an opportunity to partner with other stakeholder groups to test innovative approaches to provide and promote healthy foods in a supportive environment…Partners in the HFSI will work together to identify specific goals and objectives for improvement, and then plan, implement, and monitor initiatives.”
A few weeks ago, students and community members joined together to battle out the title for top chef at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Though the evening was truly competitive and intense, the event was part of the campus’s celebratory Foods Week.
UNBC’s foods week involved several ‘food’ events developed in a collaborative effort by the Northern Undergraduate Students Society (NUGSS), UNBC’s Campus Food Strategy Group (CFSG), Prince George Public Research Interest Group (PGPIRG) and UNBC’s campus food service provider, Eurest.
Students explain their locally inspired dishes at UNBC's Top Chef Event
There were many events, opportunities for conversation and delicious food! The top chef event featured products from the Good Food Box and UNBC’s Farmers Market. In the Dining Hall, locally and provincially sourced ingredients were highlighted by Head Chef Rodney Mansbridge. For those thirsty for local – the campus pub highlighted local microbreweries, selling out every day!
As for conversation, a local grass-fed beef farmer spoke to a group of students about the opportunities and challenges of sustainable food production in the region during the screening of the documentary Fresh and the campus was alive with discussion about food at their Town Hall.
CFSG coordinator Nitha Karanja said, “This is a very timely event. UNBC is currently developing and will be releasing a request for proposal (RFP) for a campus food service provider in the near future. The more involvement and awareness we can build around the campus food system, the more information we will have to develop a RFP that accurately reflects the needs and desires of everyone at UNBC.”
The week was a huge success and as stated by Cam Bell, UNBC’s CFSG co-coordinator stated, “UNBC’s Food Week is an excellent example of a several campus organizations coming together to display the possibilities of a more sustainable campus food system. It also provides everyone the opportunity to celebrate the strengths in our present campus food system.”
When CFSP program coordinators, Sarah and Caitlin, visited campuses on the East Coast, we went equipped with a presentation that speaks to why it’s important for universities to be models for local, sustainable campus food systems in Canada, and how some campuses are already doing it. Find it here, complete with speakers notes.
Memorial University is making great strides towards food systems sustainability.
In March 2013, Campus Food Systems Project Coordinators, Caitlin Colson and Sarah Archibald had the opportunity to visit Memorial University’s St. John’s Campus and see, first hand, the local food initiatives happening on campus and in the community.
CFSP Coordinators and the staff at Bitters celebrate their initiatives to become a leader in sustainable procurement and operations!
CFSP Coordinators and the staff at Bitters celebrate their initiatives to become a leader in sustainable procurement and operations!
We had the chance to speak with Julie Purchase, chef at Bitters, the Graduate Student Restaurant and Lounge that is making huge strides towards connecting with local farmers and increasing sustainability in operations. With the support of the Bitters staff, the Graduate Students Union and past Campus Food Strategy Group Coordinator, Riley Pollom, Bitters is well on its way to be LEAF certified and was named one of the greenest restaurants in Canada of 2013.
There’s nothing bitter about that - Congratulations!
On April 17, the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) joins its sister organizations of La Via Campesina, the international movement of small farmers, to commemorate the 1996 massacre of 19 landless Brazilian farmers who were demanding access to land and justice. “We honor their sacrifice by relentlessly continuing our work to reclaim food systems from global corporations seeking to control food and farmers,” says Cammie Harbottle, NFU Youth President.
In Canada, the assault on farm livelihoods and family farms is the result of economic measures rather than physical violence, according to Harbottle. “With less than eight percent of Canadian farmers under the age of 35, youth in the National Farmers Union are positioned at the leading edge of change. We are ready to confront the problems endemic in Canada’s industrial model of agriculture,” she states. “As we do, we will stand in solidarity with peasant farmers around the world, today on the International Day of Peasants’ Struggles and every single day of the year. And we will celebrate the role that youth are taking in creating a better future for farmers in Canada and elsewhere.”
Applied Student Research (ASR) is emerging on campuses across North America. At the CFSP, we’re seeing how ASR enables a campus to leverage its own academic resources to tackle the tough questions of how to improve campus food services and regional food systems.
CFSG Coordinator Wesley and excited students Alex and Alex show off their sustainable campus food systems paper
Sarah Archibald recently had the opportunitiy to participate in a 4th year Geography Class at Carleton which has been working with the Carleton CFSG Coordinators to integrate ASR into their studies.
Sarah was so excited to see the projects going on including
Students involved with ASR also commented on their experiences:
“This Applied Student Research project in class was a nice break from pure academia and an opportunity to make connections with the campus community and great community as well.”
“The final project [in this class] provided me with the opportunity to try and better Carleton campuses food system. Integrating beliefs I am passionate about within the school’s food system is meaningful.”
We’ll be sure to post the final projects and research findings from this course!
A special thanks to Professor Ballamingie, her students and the CFSG Campus Coordinators, Christopher Yordy and Wesley Petite.
Wondering how trade agreements and regulations like CETA impact your campus’ ability to procure domestically grown food? On Tuesday April 16 at 3pm EST, speakers Ken Babich – food procurement expert from the University of Victoria, and Kyra bell-Pasht – environmental law expert, will get to the heart of what these agreements mean and how to navigate these regulations. Register here to join the Farm to Cafeteria Network for an exciting conversation.
Often when we think about the food system we think about the process of getting food from farm to plate – the planning, planting, production, harvesting, processing, distribution, marketing and preparation of food.
But what happens to the food that gets wasted along the way and the food that gets left on our plates?
Unfortunately, close to half of all food produced worldwide is wasted — discarded in processing, transport, supermarkets and kitchens. On campuses, this waste is often transported off of campus which results in transportation greenhouse gases in addition to the methane emissions produced by landfills. Food waste is discouraging and costly for campuses – which is motivating campus dining halls to find new and innovative ways of reducing waste.
During their East Coast Campus tour, Caitlin and Sarah saw how campuses were taking creative and diverse approaches to reduce waste.
Scraping Stations
These are just a few of the many creative solutions campuses are finding to build awareness about and actively reduce and reuse food waste.We’d love to hear other ideas and initiatives – feel free to send questions, comments and ideas to us national@studentfood.ca
Fresh out of Ryerson University, this report compares Food Service Models on 10 different campuses across Canada and the US, with a focus on their business models, procurement and operations, costs and funding, and innovations.