The sustainability of the UBC Food System Collaborative Project 2006 : scenario 2

Students, staff, and faculty at the University of British Columbia have access to a wide variety of foodstuffs throughout campus because of the food service outlets provided by the Alma Mater Society and UBC Food Services. Most of these food service outlets are representative of the global food system, where economic sustainability is of the utmost consequence, and the importance of social and environmental sustainability is lost. Much of the food on campus has traveled many miles from where it was originally grown, causing negative environmental and social impacts in BC. To improve the sustainability of any food system, there needs to be an increase in the amount of local and seasonal foods represented in it, thereby reversing global trends and accruing positive environmental and social impacts. The goal of Group 8 was to establish the feasibility of integrating local and seasonal foods into UBC Food Service outlets, specifically The Barn Coffee Shop. The Barn was chosen as a demonstration of the possibilities of local and seasonal foods because of several factors: proximity to the Faculty of Land and Food Systems building, its presence on “Sustainability Street,” and the high proportion of staff and faculty patrons. Previous research determined that much of the soil-grown food purchased by UBC Food Services comes from outside of Canada; however, much of this produce is presently being grown within BC. Based on previous years’ research, the availability of seasonal produce was established, and our group devised menu items that incorporated these foodstuffs. 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