UBC Food Systems Project IV Scenario 3: Education, Awareness and Re-Localization of the UBC Food System GROUP 7: Renu Bawa Bonnie Chu Monique Gobes Eun-Ae Lee Linda Nguyen Flora Sproule Kathleen Yau April 8, 2005 AGSC 450 Group 7 1 AGSC 450 – Land, Food and Community III University of British Columbia Table of Contents Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………......2 PART 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………...3 A. Problem Statement….………...…………………………………………………………………...4 B. Value Assumptions…………………...…………………………………………………………...5 PART 2 C. Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………6 D. Assigned Sub-System…….……………………….………………………………………………7 E. Findings i) Critique of Past Education Campaigns………………..…………………………………..8 ii) Review of the Buy BC Program……………..………………………………………......11 iii) Discussion of the Benefits of Local Food……………………………………….….…..13 F. Recommendations i) Food Week………………………………………...……………………………………...15 ii) Labeling of Local Foods………………………...………………………………….……19 G. Campaign Budget…………………………………………………………………………………20 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………..20 Works cited………..…………………………………………………………………………………22 Appendices A. “UBC Grown” Logo………………………………………………...……..…………….24 B. Posters…………………………………………………………...……………….……....25 C. Pamphlet………………………………………………………………………….……...26 **Note to marker: Per the verbal agreement made with Alejandro Rojas March 30 March 2005, we have 2 additional pages to account for educational campaign material. AGSC 450 Group 7 2 Executive Summary Re-localization of the University of British Columbia’s food system will enable it to become more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. There are many benefits to consuming locally grown or processed foods over items that travel great distances. We define our local food system to be within the province of British Columbia. Currently, there is relatively little awareness and support for re-localization from the consumers who purchase food at UBC. A successful food system re-localization program must address consumer education, through targeting different student, staff, and faculty populations. The findings of previous groups of the UBC Food System Project, as well as survey results and additional literature reviews by this team, have been used to help us develop strategies that can be implemented to educate consumers. Social marketing and other theories of behaviour change can also be used as a theoretical framework to develop our plans. Any recommendations that we wish to implement must have some evidence that it will be effective in reaching our target populations within UBC consumers. We must also appreciate financial constraints since the food system must remain economically viable. Some recommendations that we believe would be effective include promoting the Buy BC marketing campaign, the use of well-developed, aesthetically pleasing visuals, stickers and pamphlets, holding an awareness-building Food Week targeting new undergraduate students, and promoting other food-related events. Finally, it is important to work collaboratively with our partners, UBC Food Services and AMS Food and Beverage. A successful re-localization campaign at UBC must address the consumers using multiple strategies. AGSC 450 Group 7 3 PART 1 Introduction To provide food for tens of thousands of students, faculty and staff each day, the University of British Columbia must be supported by a food system that is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. Like many organizations, UBC is an adherent of globalization, and relatively few people within the university population are aware of the benefits of a more localized food system. Only recently, with the onset of programs such as Buy BC and the ongoing UBC Food System Project (UBCFSP), has re-localization of food systems been propagated into mainstream discussion. In order to maintain and increase support for the growing trend of re-localization of the food system at UBC, education campaigns must be established that target awareness and understanding within the consumer group. The population at UBC is made up of staff, faculty, and for the most part, students. Undergraduate students make up a large proportion of the consumer population. As all consumers become aware of the benefits of purchasing local foods, demand for local products will hopefully increase, and this should contribute to the re-localization movement. The goal of this component of the UBCFSP is to determine the most effective methods of reaching this population, and what messages should be used to address the issues relating to local foods. Before any messages can be given to the consumer population, we must first define the meaning of “local food.” The definition is often disputed. To different people, it can mean food produced within a very small area, within provincial or national borders, or within an eco-region (Local food, 2005). The size of a province or country can impact the definition of local foods, as well as the actual number of food miles an item must travel. For example, Canada is one of the world’s largest countries, and some of its provinces are geographically larger than many AGSC 450 Group 7 4 countries. Local foods are ideally defined by their eco-region, or ecological unit determined by climate, soil, watershed, species, and local agricultural practices (Local food, 2005). If this were the case, local foods for UBC may include food from Washington State, but not eastern Canada. However, because we wish to create a program that is economically as well as ecologically viable, we choose to define local food for UBC as being any food produced, processed, or made within the province of British Columbia. Therefore any local products purchased will benefit the provincial economy. It is essential to clarify to any consumers targeted by the education campaign that local foods are not necessarily organic, non-processed, or anti-globalization (Local food, 2005). Local foods tend to be equated with produce grown by family farms, but in actuality any food produced within our provincial boundaries are considered local, which may or may not include larger agribusinesses in BC. One fact that can be emphasized is that the reduction of food miles that occurs when local foods are purchased will minimize our ecological footprint. Very good section explaining re-localizaton and the team’s position. A. Problem Statement There is currently only minimal recognition that a problem within the food system exists. According to the Scenario 3: Education, Awareness, and Re-Localization of the UBCFSP, this is caused by an abundance of food at a perceived low cost to the consumer; when in reality many externalities exist that harm the environment, economy, and social fabric of our country. Many consumers do not know the distance that food travels or where it comes from, or are aware of the AGSC 450 Group 7 5 consequences of non-local foods for food producers, the environment, and perhaps their own health. The increasing distance between the producer and the consumer is a problem that must be addressed. Perhaps one of the reasons that food has become so un-localized lies in globalization and the global commitment to free trade in most countries of the world. Non-local producers may rely on intense agricultural techniques such as monocultures or cash crops to make the most of a free trade system, but these practices result in many negative ecological effects. Not only are monocultures unsustainable and reduce biological diversity, the transportation of food from afar relies heavily on fossil fuel consumption, resulting in greater carbon emissions worldwide (Pretty, 2001). While these environmental problems are serious, there may be apathy in consumers who cannot see where their food comes from. A goal of this educational campaign would be to bring interest and support for re-localization of food at UBC. B. Value Assumptions Seven guiding principles have been developed by previous UBCFSP partners, which in turn have been analyzed and discussed by this team. There are many key aspects of the original guiding principles that we agree with, such as the idea that a sustainable food system is multi-faceted and addresses environmental, financial, and social requirements; however, we feel that a number of guiding principles are unclear or worded inappropriately. We have re-written the guiding principles to define a sustainable local food system to be one that: 1. Must protect and enhance the diversity and the integrity of the natural ecosystem and the resources that supports it. 2. Relies on local inputs when possible, where inputs and waste are recycled and/or composted locally. 3. Is a secure system that provides food that is affordable, available, accessible, culturally, ethically and nutritionally appropriate, safe and can adapt to change. 4. Nourishes the present generation to provide for healthy diets that do not compromise the food security of future generations. AGSC 450 Group 7 6 5. Nurtures feelings of community and promotes enjoyment of food around the food table. 6. Enhances feelings of personal responsibility within the community, influenced by a heightened awareness of every component, from production to disposal. 7. Contains a mixture of imported and local foods that come from socially and ecologically conscious producers to ensure long-term financial viability. While all members of this group have a vested interest in environmental circumstances, the majority of members take on a weak anthropocentric position with regard to how the UBC food system can be made more sustainable. Our team is made up of Food, Nutrition, and Health students, who value human nutrition, as well as Agroecology students who value planetary health. Our overall system of values may affect the development of an educational campaign for the re-localization of the UBC food system because we will ultimately place the well being of human beings over that of the planet. However because our position is only weakly anthropocentric, we feel that there are many ways to collaborate with more ecocentric ideals to ensure that human needs and wants, such as variety and novelty in our diets, can be satisfied along with principles that will benefit the environment, such as minimizing packaging and waste The strategies that we hope to implement to accomplish our goals will be discussed in the following section. PART 2 C. Methodology For an effective marketing campaign that encourages the UBC population to purchase locally grown foods, it is helpful to understand behaviour change theories. They serve as a behavioural map to better identify and predict future behaviours. That knowledge can then be adapted into constructive marketing strategies. Campaigns that are based on an understanding of AGSC 450 Group 7 7 behaviour theories and that use corresponding communication strategies have a much greater chance of producing positive change (Campbell, 1999). At the community level of change, the diffusion of innovations model can help explain how new ideas, products, and practices are adopted in various segments of the population at UBC. Although local food is technically not an “innovation,” it is a new idea in the respect that most of the UBC population is accustomed to purchasing globally produced or grown foods and may not be conscientious of choosing locally. With this in mind, survey results from Chan et al. (2004) and the Sauder School of Business (2004) played an important role in developing our educational campaign. To have the community accept the innovation, it must be perceived to have greater benefits than costs while the risks of changing are not prohibitively high. The main ‘risk’ the UBC population may perceive to local foods is an increase in price and lack of variety; therefore it is important that food prices remain competitive and eating seasonally is emphasized in our campaign. We also drew upon key elements of the previous work done by our colleagues such as the use of posters and pamphlets. We also considered the successes and failures of “Buy BC,” an analogous province-wide campaign that has been operating since 1993. Our goal with this educational campaign is to send clear, concise, and positive messages that emphasize the benefits of local food as seen by our selected posters and pamphlets (Appx. B & C). They appeal to people who are information seekers, which is a common characteristic of the UBC population. This type of understanding helps us plan more effective campaigns while responding to societal trends that affect food choices. D. Assigned Sub-System AGSC 450 Group 7 8 We have identified our target population to be all consumers of food and beverages at UBC. This includes mainly students (64,410 enrolled in the 2004/2005 school year), but also faculty (~8000), staff, and some residents. The largest population of students, and perhaps the most impressionable, will be the undergraduates. The population of UBC is characterized by a medium to high socio-economic status and most have or are obtaining a formal education. E. Findings i) Critique of Past Education Campaigns Although the groups of previous years have used food mileage as an ecological indicator, Group 17, consisting of Chan et al. (2004), opted to set up a system to calculate the volume and seasonality of several commodities to assess the proportion of fresh produce used at UBC, which can be obtained from BC sources. Their data was collected through the aid of Dorothy Yip (AMS Food Services) and Nick Gregory (AMS Food and Beverage Department). The basis for the volume and seasonality study was also supplemented by utilizing the BC Agriculture Commodity List (Chan et al., 2004). Under economic indicators, Group 17 focused their attention on food that may be purchased at a lower cost locally. This proved to be a more efficient way to analyze data as it more closely reflected the university’s commitment to re-localization. If raw materials such as fruits and vegetables can be acquired and produced locally and at a lower cost, this leads to a win-win situation for both campus vendors and consumers. In terms of social indicators, Group 17 felt that the way to measure this pillar is by assessing consumer awareness about the food supply and the willingness of these consumers to eat a more local and seasonal diet. In reaching this goal, a questionnaire was produced which included sections on the attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, and identity of the people filling them out. AGSC 450 Group 7 9 In addition, a poster quoting the slogan “Eat Thoughtfully, Buy Locally” was produced. As a team, we felt that the questionnaire was an effective way to gather information about the audience we wanted to target. In turn, we can figure out what type of approach we can use to educate the general UBC population about local foods. If we are able to assess their knowledge and awareness of local foods on campus, then we can effectively reach more people. Overall, we felt that the education campaign created by Chan et al. (2004) would not be effective. Although all the relevant information was provided, the design of the poster was unprofessional and unappealing. Our goal this year is to provide more aesthetically pleasing visuals relevant to our target audience with a general slogan “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” (Appx. C). In addition, we plan to incorporate the benefits of purchasing and consuming local foods in terms of social, economical and ecological aspects. Group 6, consisting of Asada et al. (2004), suggested that educating the UBC community about Food Miles could the first step towards a more sustainable food system. They pointed out that a Food Miles label indicates relative environmental pollution due to fossil-fuel consuming transport based on CO2 emissions and also indicates relative freshness. They suggested developing posters, pamphlets and colour-coded stickers to raise awareness about Food Miles. However, our team believes that trying to teach people about Food Miles is jumping one step ahead. We feel that, as the average UBC student does not consider the source of their food, we need to start by promoting local foods first. Perhaps, once everyone gets used to thinking about buying local, we can next teach consumers about Food Miles and the implications of international trade. We feel that it would be more relevant to promote “Buy Fresh, Buy Local” and promote local foods as a healthy alternative to well-traveled food because they have a higher nutritional value and contain are grown with fewer chemicals (UCS, 2002). We feel that AGSC 450 Group 7 10 promoting the health benefits of local foods will be more effective than focusing on the negative environment implications of non-local foods as most people are anthropocentric and consider their own health before that of the environment. The Sauder School of Business at UBC also developed an education campaign to promote local foods to students in residence at UBC (Aikens et al., 2004). The Sauder team interviewed 31 students including graduate students, residence students, and non-residence students in October 2004 to understand current UBC students' attitude to locally produced food. They concluded that a successful campaign must increase students' awareness on the relationship between consuming local produce and sustainability. For an educational campaign, they suggest modifications to the UBC Food Service (UBCFS) website, an information table and cards, posting information about local foods on the Bulletin Board, promoting a local Dish of the Day, a home-grown indicator on the menu, and a paragraph writing competition. We feel that these measures are well thought out and cover most aspects of educating students living in UBC residences. Therefore we chose to focus our own education campaign on the rest of the UBC population. The Sauder team defined local food as originating in BC. However, they were concerned that some BC products may not be organically grown, and some produce (such as that from Washington) would require fewer Food Miles than food from the interior regions of BC. Since our group values economical aspects as an important part of sustainability, we define “local” as produced in BC to support local economy. Results from the Sauder survey showed that undergraduate students are very price-sensitive and are unlikely to pay more for local products. Seventy-one percent of students answered they will support the idea of UBCFS offering more locally produced food on campus AGSC 450 Group 7 11 although this does not necessarily mean that they will buy it once offered. We believe, though, that if the UBC community is enlightened as to the human and environmental benefits of local food, they will be more willing to support it. Group 3 chose to develop a pamphlet to be displayed in busy dining areas around UBC (Chang et al. 2004). They also developed a logo for the campaign with the slogan “Food from within”. We thought that the logo was visually adequate but did not understand the slogan. As a result, we modified the phrase to “UBC Grown” and decided that it would be best used as a sticker on UBC Farm produce. Because Chang et al. (2004) did not provide a finished pamphlet, our team has taken the opportunity to develop one (Appx B). Furthermore, Chang et al. (2004) estimated the budget of their campaign to be $150 for 100 table advertisements. However, we decided that education materials would be more timely and effective if they are distributed during the first week of classes in September, as part of the IMAGINE UBC student orientation program and the Firstweek initiative sponsored by the UBC Alma Mater Society (AMS). Through these programs, we can reach new students to UBC to deliver our message of support for a local food system. To accomplish this, we have revised our budget to include 3000 colour pamphlets, costing approximately $1200 ($0.20/page), as well as the table advertisements. ii) Review and Critique of the Buy BC Program Prior to planning our educational campaign, we examined at length an existing local food awareness campaign, Buy BC. Information from the official website of BC Agricultural Council as well as the annual report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food has been reviewed and we have also obtained some specific details from Steve Thomson, the coordinator of the program. AGSC 450 Group 7 12 The Buy BC Program has supported local food production by increasing consumer awareness of local food since 1993 (BC Agricultural Council [BCAC], 2005), and is led by the provincial government and the agri-food industry. Food producers and processors who qualify and pay to participate in the program are licensed to use the Buy BC logo or the Buy BC marks. Consumers can look for the logo in food markets or grocery stores if they prefer to buy food that is grown or processed in BC. The Buy BC marks are classified into three main categories: BC Grown, a BC Product and BC Made. BC Grown products are 100% grown or raised in BC (BCAC, 2005). A BC Product indicates food with over 51% of its production originating in BC and is mainly grown within the province as well (BCAC, 2005). Although BC Made products are also processed in BC, their raw materials are from other provinces or countries (BCAC, 2005). Beyond benefits from Buy BC logo use, participating companies can also take advantages of special promotions organized by retailers in the Buy BC program to promote their local products (BCAC, 2005). With an additional cost, Buy BC Road Signs are available to provide customers with clear directions toward a participating company’s farm or local food market (BCAC, 2005). The program is planning to offer website promotion and product research for its participants in the future. It has been determined that “the consumer recognition of the Buy BC logo is over 75%” (BCAC, 2005). This indicates that 75% of the consumers can recognize when local food is available in store. The Buy BC program has significantly enhanced the promotion of BC products. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food annual report from 1998 to 2000, the number of companies that use the Buy BC logo has increased by about 20% (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries [AGF], 1999, 2000). Over 1200 companies and 5000 products AGSC 450 Group 7 13 are involved in the application of Buy BC logo (BCAC, 2005). The increasing number of participants highlights the success of the Buy BC program in past years. When government funding was withdrawn in 2001, the BC Agricultural Council took over the responsibility of running the Buy BC Program (Langley Advance, 2002). Since then, the council has been struggling to maintain the program (AGF, 2002). A new user-pay program, requiring producers to pay an annual fee depending on their company size for the participation in the Buy BC program, was administered in 2003 to sustain the program (Birley, 2003). The program is now maintained under a sublicensing agreement with the provincial government From an email interview with Steve Thomson, the coordinator of the Buy BC program, it was disclosed that there are difficulties in maintaining the program (Thomson, 2005) . As the program was initially free with the government funding in the past, a limited number of firms and associations are willing to pay for the licensing fee that is now required. There are only forty firms with current licenses and the program budget is about $25,000 each year. The budget is not sufficient to support the logos and other materials (Thomson, 2005). Another challenge that the program faces is the development of individual local food programs by the retailers. This has caused many retailers to withdraw from the Buy BC program. Thomson is making progress in discussions with provincial government on how the Buy BC program can be beneficial to BC. His efforts include linking the program with current initiatives on “healthy food for healthy British Columbians” and the Act Now Program as well as promoting BC agri-food industries in the lead-up to 2010 Winter Olympics (Thomson, 2005). AGSC 450 Group 7 14 Although it seems very difficult to maintain the Buy BC program, Thomson believes that the Buy BC logo still has value. The program has made people consider buying locally. Since many people recognize the Buy BC logo, it will be useful to include it as a part of our educational campaign. iii) Benefits of Local Food Marketing plays a crucial role in promoting local foods but if consumers are not given concrete incentives to purchase them, then the most aggressive campaigning would still be ineffective. Therefore before we can come up with an effective education piece, we must first address the question of why we should buy local. Many benefits surround the idea of purchasing local food whether they are ecological or economical. However, one of the biggest reasons why most people should consider eating local foods is due to their nutritional benefits. Food travels an average distance of 1,500-2,500 miles from farm to table (Halweil, 2002) and within that time many vitamins and minerals are lost (Food Routes, 2005). For example, fruits and vegetables that are shipped from the United States (particularly from California, Florida and Washington) can spend up to 14 days traveling from producers, processors, transporters, distributors and marketers before getting to consumers (Choate. In that amount of time, the vitamin C content can decrease significantly due to poor handling, exposure to direct sunlight and generally poor storage conditions (Choate). Fruits and vegetables that are sold locally are picked during the peak of their ripeness and sold within 24 hours so that consumers can benefit from their freshness and nutritional content. In addition, fruits and vegetables that are imported from other areas are prone to a higher exposure of pesticides and methyl bromide due to AGSC 450 Group 7 15 quarantine reasons (Green Party. ). Although nutritional content is higher in local foods than in foods that are imported, the variety of them is significantly lower. In order to purchase local foods, they must be in season. Therefore, commodities such as carrots, celery, peas, potatoes, etc. that are not in season during the winter months in BC, cannot be consumed . When deciding what foods to eat, it is important to think of how it was produced, where it came from, how far it has traveled and when it was harvested. Eating local foods help give us a better understanding of how to answer these questions and at the same time, provide us with a product which is fresher, higher in nutritional content and lower in pesticides. Farmers can also benefit from enriching the local food market because they can focus on breeding varieties based on taste and freshness instead of shipping and long shelf life (Food Routes, 2005). Buying locally grown food will benefit ecological and economical systems as well. Ecologically speaking, freshly picked foods generally contain fewer pesticides and preservatives (Aikens et al., 2004). Transporting foods locally also minimizes negative impacts on the environment. Vehicles used for transport release carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions that are linked to global warming (Raloff, 2003). Furthermore, buying local foods will strengthen communities. The money spent on local foods can circulate within a local community, and be used to support local farms. More money will be returned to producers because some of the middlemen, including processors, packagers, shippers, advertisers and retailers, can be eliminated from the food system, thus perpetuating the support for local foods (Aikens et al., 2004). F. Recommendations i) Food Week AGSC 450 Group 7 16 As a fun initiative to promote local foods within the UBC community, our group has opted to hold a “Food Week” event in the Student Union Building (SUB) concourse between September 22 and 24, 2006. Because our event will be held in the SUB, a proposal must be submitted to the Student Administrative Commission at least two weeks prior to the event start date for discussion and final approval. This written agenda will include the required space and dates requested and other groups, organizations, companies, and UBC partners we intend on working with. Groups external to the AMS are considered to be “commercial” and therefore full rental rates would apply. However, if our team is able to collaborate with AMS Food and Beverage (AMSFB) and Nancy Toogood, we may be given permission to use the SUB concourse free of charge or at partial rates. Further inquiries in regards to final rental rate estimates could be made to Kari Hewett. If it’s decided to work independently and not in conjunction with AMSFB, questions with regard to SUB concourse rental rates could be directed to Jane Kim and concerns with specific room rental space within the SUB can be made to Sunshine Hanan. Therefore, for future groups intending on implementing “Food Week”, we suggest that they draft a proposal for this event as soon as possible. Assuming that our proposal is approved for implementation and all the fees are paid, “Food Week” will begin on the third Wednesday back from summer holidays. Therefore, the students involved in the January 2006 component of the UBCFSP can organize the event to start September 2006. “Food Week” festivities will include such events as Cooking with John Bishop, promotions with the Beat radio station (94.5FM), and special appearances by representatives of the UBC Farm, Sage Bistro, and Sprouts. The Beat radio station is known to be involved in community events on and off UBC campus and would be willing to promote our event. We are suggesting that future groups contact them to appear at UBC during Food Week as AGSC 450 Group 7 17 a promotional tool. They can provide wide media exposure and we can benefit from their marketing expertise. Considering the social marketing techniques discussed above, this may prove to be a successful method of changing food purchasing behaviour through observational learning and diffusion of innovation, by spreading the trend of buying local. During the course of the week, we also intend on having several raffle draws with prizes such as gift certificates to local restaurants Sage Bistro and Bishop’s, as well as cookbooks that feature local food ingredients. To be eligible for the raffle, students will be asked to answer questions such as what they believe local food is. A winner will be announced daily to maintain student interest and incentive to participate. Other events that can be considered for “Food Week” in the long-term can include cooking contests using local ingredients, and a Battle of the Bands concert featuring local talent. To attract attention to our educational campaign, we thought it would be beneficial to use a local celebrity who would be high profile as well as relevant to our cause. John Bishop is a local fine dining restaurateur who promotes a sustainable food system at his business by purchasing local and organic foods as part of his restaurant’s food purchasing policy. He is also an active member in the Vancouver Food Policy Task Force, which seeks local food security and sustainability. Our team has contacted him to see if he would be interested in participating in our awareness campaign, and he was enthusiastic at the prospect1. To take advantage of his high profile, he could be the ‘celebrity judge’ of a cooking contest of students using local foods donated by SPUD or the UBC Farm. Alternatively, he may be willing to do a cooking demonstration or be on hand to provide recipes using local foods. Whatever participation capacity future groups request should be mutually agreed upon and respect his busy schedule and donation of time. Food week can grow to be an annual Food Festival on the UBC Farm, offering 1 Future groups: He can be contacted at . To jog his memory regarding this project, remind him that Monique Gobes spoke to him by telephone in March 2005. AGSC 450 Group 7 18 tours of the farm to UBC students and contests, while providing local food and local bands as entertainment. Another way our team intends to promote and educate about local foods to the UBC community is through the use of pamphlets. We have designed a local food pamphlet to be distributed before and during “Food Week”, to promote the event. The prototype of our pamphlet can be found in Appendix B. It includes information about why people should purchase and consume local foods in terms of economical, nutritional and ecological aspects, current resources and contact information, such as Sprouts and the UBC Farm, to learn more about local foods, as well as a brief summary about the Buy BC program. The pamphlets can first be distributed inside the Tupperware containers from the UBC residents association to UBC campus residence students during the final weeks of August. It is very important to target these students who live on campus since the likelihood of them purchasing their own food to consume on a daily basis, is higher than those living at home with their parents. The pamphlets will also be incorporated into the Frosh Kits prepared by the IMAGINE UBC orientation program. IMAGINE UBC is run by the faculty and students of UBC and welcomes over 5000 first year students on the first day of classes2. Each student receives a Frosh Kit that includes information about upcoming events within the course of the month. The pamphlet can either be incorporated into this kit or ask student leaders to pass them out to those who are interested. The information about Food week and local foods can also be presented to the AGSC 100 class of September 2006, in order to recruit volunteers for Food Week as a component of their class requirements. We felt that targeting these first year students will be effective in increasing awareness of local foods in those students potentially purchasing food from campus over the next 2 More information about the IMAGINE UBC program and plans to implement the pamphlet as part of the Frosh Kits can be obtained from Chad Trytten Coordinator, Imagine UBC AGSC 450 Group 7 19 four years, as well as an early promotion of the UBC Farm and vendors of local foods on campus. Overall, we felt that by promoting the pamphlets and thus information about local food, we can also promote “Food Week”. Another way to specifically promote “Food Week” is by creating a banner for the banner boxes situated outside the SUB. These banner boxes are located at the top exterior of the SUB on both the north and south entrances and they provide a big visual impact at a centralized location. The cost of advertising is set at $50/banner/week/side. Banners are to be approximately 7.5 feet by 3 feet and can be produced individually or by a graphic designer provided by the AMS MarPro department at a cost of $13 per hour at a maximum of 1.5 hours. The cost of printing this banner is about $50. Assuming that we advertise “Food Week” for two weeks on both sides of the SUB using our own banner, the total cost of this advertising medium would be approximately $2003. Another option is to promote Food Week on the UBC Farm website and UBC student services website under events. ii) Labelling of Local Foods The idea of a label to identify local foods was put forth by Summer Group 3 (Chang et al. 2004), which we have since altered to create a local food label that can be used in various AMSFB locations. This label will retain the image depicting food and community. However, instead of having the slogan of “UBC: Food from within” we decided to shorten and clarify this statement to read “UBC Grown” within the graphic itself. Only commodities produced and purchased from the UBC farm will have this label on it. This will complement our promotion of the Buy BC program logo to emphasize buying locally, whether on or off campus. As explained 3 More information about using this type of advertising medium can be obtained from Linda Ong, Marketing and Promotions Manager, AMS AGSC 450 Group 7 20 by Chang et al. (2004), the two people on the label symbolize the importance of people in establishing a foundation for the future while the heart motif represents the central idea of social sustainability and the nurturing and caring nature needed in developing connection with each other and the environment. Finally the plant, as described by the group, helps us incorporate the idea of how important it is to have food grown at the UBC campus itself as a prime example of locally grown food. This idea is further reiterated by our new slogan, “UBC Grown”. The stickers can be provided to the UBC Farm to be used on all food produced there such as squash, tomatoes and salad mixes. These labels can also be used at various food vendors on campus that sell products from the farm, such Sprouts or Sage Bistro, to increase awareness on campus and allow students the choice to buy locally grown. Sage can also use the logo on their menu to build awareness of locally grown menu options. The UBFSP group that has organized the menu for the August 2006 UBC conference will also use the logo on their menu to promote UBC grown food. G. Campaign Budget Poster Printing Fee $0.20 / page§ Pamphlet Printing Fee $ 1200 / 3000 color pamphlets§ UBC Grown Logo – Sticker Printing Fee $160 / 2000 logo stickers† Advertisement for the Banner Boxes $200* Use of AMS concourse To be checked PA Equipment Rental for Food Week To be checked Stage Rental for Food Week To be checked Cash Prize for Best Chefs and Bands $1000*; ($500 each) Food by donation $0.00 § Kinko’s http://www.kinkos.ca/servicecenter/personal solutions html †Quickie Copy Center * AMS AMS Food and Beverage Department have indicated that they are willing to spend $2500-$5000 towards an educational campaign (Toogood, 2005). In order to ensure subsequent funding in years to come, it is recommended to assess the effectiveness of the educational AGSC 450 Group 7 21 campaign. Future groups should consider conducting an evaluation of awareness of local food issues in the UBC population previous to and following the campaign with pre- and post-test surveys. Summary In conclusion, we have found that previous groups have many insightful ideas for methods to educate the UBC community about the benefits of local foods. We have decided that the most useful education campaign will include posters, pamphlets, stickers for UBC Farm produce, “Food Week” in September of 2006 and promoting the slogans “Buy Fresh, Buy BC” and “UBC Grown”. We recommend that UBC Food Services promote UBC Grown foods at Sage Bistro as well as other campus food outlets. They can do this by using the “UBC Grown” logo beside menu items featuring UBC Farm products. Sprouts can also use the “UBC Grown” logo to showcase produce from UBC Farm. As AMS Food and Beverage department will be hopefully helping to finance our education campaign they will play a major role by distributing pamphlets, displaying posters and the “UBC Grown” logo to promote local foods. They could also take part in “Food Week” since it will take place outside the SUB where the majority of their businesses reside. The UBC Farm could be involved with “Food Week” through the donation of produce to the cooking competition. They can also help to raise awareness about local food by handing out pamphlets and educating public at weekly markets. The UBC Farm can also use the “UBC Grown” logo on all their food that they sell at the Saturday markets. AGSC 450 Group 7 22 Next year’s UBCFSP groups can follow up by printing and distributing the posters and the pamphlet we designed. They can continue to make plans for “Food Week” to happen in September of 2006 and hopefully use AGSC 100 volunteers to run the event with the help of AMS Food and Beverage Department and the AGSC 450 teaching team. As we have had many years of thought on this project it is now time for the real action to begin! Works Cited Aikins, Kwong, et al. 468UBCFS. 2004. Home Grown: Marketing local Foods as UBC.15 March 2005 . “The Best things in Life are BC” Buy BC Program. Accessed 8 March 2005. . Birley, Brenda. “B.C. Agriculture Council names 2003 board members”. Alaska Highway News 21 March 2003:B2 “Buy Locally”. Soil Association. Date unknown. Accessed 10 March 2005. . “Buy Locally Grown: It’s Thousands of Miles Fresher.” Food Routes. Accessed 28 February 2005.< http://www.foodroutes.org/whycare1.jsp>. Campbell MK, Sherman SG. Nutrition behaviour: Implementing change in communities. In: Owen AL, Splett PL, Owen GM, eds. Nutrition in the Community: The Art and Science of Delivering Services. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1999 Chan, Hague, et al., “A study of the Feasibility in Re-localizing the Food System of the University of British Columbia.” Group 17. Fall 2004. Accessed 10 March 2005. . Chang, Wen-Szu. Et al. “The sustainability of the UBC Food System : Collaborative project IIIa” Group 3. Summer 2004. Accessed 10 March 2005. AGSC 450 Group 7 23 . Choate, Mary S. “A Good Tomato in Winter, Where?” Co-op Food Stores Website. Accessed 12 March 2005. . Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. No date given. “Buy Local Food”. NZ Greens. Accessed 10 March 2005. . Halweil, Brian. “Home Grown”. Worldwatch Institute. 2002. Accessed 10 March 2005. . “Local food”. Wikipedia. 2005. Accessed 2 March 2005. . “Minister promotes new direction”. Langley Advance, 4 October, 2002:11 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Ministry of Agriculture and Food Annual Report 1998/1999. Accessed 8 March, 2005. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Ministry of Agriculture and Food Annual Report 1999/2000. Accessed 8 March, 2005. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Ministry of Agriculture and Food Annual Report 2001/2002. Accessed 8 March, 2005. Pretty, J. Briefing Note for Sustain AgriFood Network: Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems. 2001. Accessed 16 March, 2005, . Raloff, J. Local Foods Could Make for Greener Grocers. Science News Online. 2003. Accessed 30 March, 2005. Thomson, S. Re: Information request on Buy BC Program [Personal e-mail]. 26 March, 2005. Toogood, Nancy. Discussion with the class of AGSC 450. 16 April 2005. UBC, Vancouver, BC. Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). “Think globally, eat locally.” 2002. Accessed 24 March 2005. . AGSC 450 Group 7 24 Appendix A AGSC 450 Group 7 25 Appendix B AGSC 450 Group 7 26