Assessing the sustainability of UBC Sprouts : a commodity chain analysis

The UBC Food System Project is a collaborative, community-based action research project involving multiple partners and collaborators to transform the current UBC food system into a more sustainable and environmental friendly food system. With consultations and continuing dialogue with the project partners and collaborators, the UBCFSP team developed a series of scenarios relating to specific aspects of the UBC food system. The scenario our group had the opportunity to investigate was the sustainability of UBC Sprouts. Sprouts is a volunteer run organization at the University of British Columbia dedicated to providing the community with sustainable and healthy food. To assess the sustainability of Sprouts, our group decided to conduct a commodity chain analysis of one of their soups. Our research revealed that most of the ingredients of the soup were supplied locally by Discovery Organics. The vegetables for the soup were all produced by farms located within British Columbia. The UBC farm supplies some of Sprouts’ vegetables, but is not exclusively used for soup production. It is instead sold at the grocery store section of Sprouts. We examined the kitchen area, as well as the food preparation procedures involved in making the selected soup. Through analyzing the findings, our group was able to generate recommendations regarding the sustainability practices for Sprouts, as well as suggestions for future AGSC 450 students. Our commodity chain analysis confirmed the sustainability of Sprouts, which supports UBC’s movement towards a more sustainable and carbon-neutral campus. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Land and Food Systems, Faculty ofUnreviewedUndergraduat