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Abstract

2004 is the third year of the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Food System Collaborative Project on Sustainability (UBCFSP). Our team, group four, has been assigned the task of researching Scenario 8: What are the perceptions of UBC customers regarding the price of food at UBC? Before initiating this task, we will first clarify our problem definition, define the concept of sustainability, and articulate our vision of a sustainable UBC food system based on our assessment of group three’s model of sustainability from the 2003 UBCFSP. Based on our value assumptions that combine both eco-centrism and weak-anthropocentrism, our group further defines sustainable food products in terms of six aspects of food production: production, packaging, advertising, transportation, distribution, and disposal. Furthermore, by incorporating a community-based approach, a research agenda is developed to identify the perceptions of UBC customers regarding the price of food at UBC and practices to establish full costs and benefits. The research instruments include qualitative methods, such as surveys, open-ended questionnaires and cost-benefit analysis, and quantitative methods, such as statistical measurements of food mileage and accessibility of food and methods of payment. A timeline is also provided to help guide future research in 2005 and 2006. Finally, in order to help validate our research, we identify those stakeholders who stand to benefit from our research into assessing the perceptions of UBC consumers with regards to food pricing at UBC. 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.”