Local Food...Local Resources

If attending Community Eats lunches has given you not only a taste for vegan soups and stews, but also a desire to learn more about food and food system issues, check out one of these local organizations and events for more information, resources and food-related events:


Slow Food Vancouver "Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world." (Slow Food Vancouver website) Check out the upcoming event in December to celebrate Terra Madre Day.


The Tyee - An independent online newspaper, from BC and for BC, the Tyee promotes media democracy and often has interesting articles on a variety of different topics. Right now, you can read about local food history in a series called "Eat Your History". Find out why a certain variety of potato was "outlawed" in BC and lots of other tasty tidbits of info on local food. The series is edited by the author of 100-Mile Diet, James MacKinnon.


Farm Folk City Folk - "FarmFolk/CityFolk Society is a non-profit society that works with farm & city to cultivate a local, sustainable food system. We develop and operate projects that provide access to & protection of foodlands; that support local, small scale growers and producers; and that educate, communicate and celebrate with local food communities." (Farm Folk City Folk website) Find out more in this informative video, Food Democracy, produced locally by Thomas Donovan.

Food Connections Symposium - On November 25, Metro Vancouver is hosting an all-day symposium in Coquitlam; you can still register online to attend and have a say in the priorities being set for a Regional Food System Strategy.

If you belong to or know of other local organizations who educate and advocate for food systems issues in BC and the Vancouver area, please feel free to comment and share!

- Patty Hambler, ADED 501 Practicum Student

Community Eats: So Much More than a Free Lunch

If you are already a regular Community Eats participant, you know how tasty the vegan lunches are and how busy this regular event has become on campus. Every second week, the lineups in the basement of the SUB attest to the success of this innovative initiative.

Tasty food aside, you may not be aware of some of the food systems issues that Community Eats wants to get you thinking and talking about...

Food waste and food security are two of the top reasons that Community Eats was started. Every day, restaurants and grocery stores across Canada throw out literally tonnes of decent food. There are some great programs, like Quest Food Exchange, that try to address this food waste issue. Community Eats wants to do its part, so volunteers collect food from grocery suppliers that would normally get thrown out, helping to reduce the greenhouse gases (namely methane) that get released when food ends up in landfills.

Community Eats also wants you to think about another type of food waste: disposable containers that get used at fast food outlets. Styrofoam and plastic are two of the most common and contribute to the substantial amount of waste that comes from the food industry. Be sure to remember your reusable container when you come to a Community Eats lunch... you could even go a step further by bringing one to other food outlets on campus as most are happy to fill up your container instead of using a disposable one.

To find out more about food waste and sustainability initiatives on campus, check out: http://climateaction.ubc.ca or www.sustain.ubc.ca.

Food security is a complex issue that has many layers. Community Eats, along with other great initiatives on campus, such as the Sprouts, UBC Farm and Agora Eats Cafe, are working on addressing food system and food security issues at UBC. If you are new to the food security discussion, check out this resource http://www.ryerson.ca/foodsecurity/. If you are more advanced, feel free to comment on this blog: Why are initiatives like Community Eats an important part of our food system?

Stay tuned for more blog posts from Patty Hambler, ADED 501 student and guest blogger.

hey all you UBC foodies...

Check out some other UBC food-related initiatives:

UBC Dollar Project Recipe Contest:
http://ubcdollarproject.blogspot.com/search/label/Announcements

Student Kitchen Project:
http://studentkitchenproject.blogspot.com/

Food is FUNdaMENTAL Conference

The Student Environment Centre (SEC) and Friends of the UBC Farm (FotF) are putting on a conference called "Food is Fundamental" September 23-27th, 2008. The conference will address food issues that concern people, the environment and the economy in both local and global contexts.

The conference is FREE, for more information and to register please visit http://foodisfundamental.com.